Synopses & Reviews
A New York Times science reporter makes a startling new case that religion has an evolutionary basis. For the last 50,000 years, and probably much longer, people have practiced religion. Yet little attention has been given to the question of whether this universal human behavior might have been implanted in human nature. In this original and thought-provoking work, Nicholas Wade traces how religion grew to be so essential to early societies in their struggle for survival, how an instinct for faith became hardwired into human nature, and how it provided an impetus for law and government. The Faith Instinct offers an objective and nonpolemical exploration of humanity's quest for spiritual transcendence.
Synopsis
A noted science writer offers a convincing case based on a broad range of scientific evidence for the evolutionary basis of religion.
About the Author
Nicholas Wade has been on the editorial staff of The New York Times, Nature, and Science. He is the author of six previous books, including Before the Dawn. He lives in New Jersey.