Synthesizing thirty years of research, psychologist and science
historian Michael Shermer upends the traditional thinking about how
humans form beliefs about the world. Simply put, beliefs come first
and explanations for beliefs follow. The brain, Shermer argues, is
a belief engine. Using sensory data that flow in through the
senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns,
and then infuses those patterns with meaning, forming beliefs. Once
beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find
confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, accelerating the
process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes
in a positive-feedback loop.
In "The Believing Brain, "Shermer provides countless real-world
examples of how this process operates, from politics, economics,
and religion to conspiracy theories, the supernatural, and the
paranormal. And ultimately, he demonstrates why science is the best
tool ever devised to determine whether or not our beliefs match
reality.
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