Synopses & Reviews
Why is belief so hard to shake? Despite our best attempts to embrace rational thought and reject superstition, we often find ourselves appealing to unseen forces that guide our destiny, wondering who might be watching us as we go about our lives, and imagining what might come after death. In this lively and masterfully argued new book, Jesse Bering unveils the psychological underpinnings of why we believe. Combining lucid accounts of surprising new studies with insights into literature, philosophy, and even pop culture, Bering gives us a narrative that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. He sheds light on such topics as our search for a predestined life purpose, our desire to read divine messages into natural disasters and other random occurrences, our visions of the afterlife, and our curiosity about how moral and immoral behavior are rewarded or punished in this life. Bering traces all of these beliefs and desires to a single trait of human psychology, known as the "theory of mind," which enables us to guess at the intentions and thoughts of others. He then takes this groundbreaking argument one step further, revealing how the instinct to believe in God and other unknowable forces gave early humans an evolutionary advantage. But now that these psychological illusions have outlasted their evolutionary purpose, Bering draws our attention to a whole new challenge: escaping them. Thanks to Bering's insight and wit, will reward readers with an enlightened understanding of the universal human tendency to believe-and the tools to break free.
Review
A balanced and considered approach to this often inflammatory topic.A colorful romp through psychology, philosophy and popular culture.Witty... [Bering] employs examples and analogies that make hisarguments seem like common sense rather than the hard-earned scientificinsights they really are.Bering ranges comfortably among evolutionary biology, psychology andphilosophical concerns, and finds the good science in belief.Jesse Bering is a brilliant young psychologist, a gifted storyteller, acareful reader of Jean-Paul Sartre, and a very funny man. And his firstbook, The Belief Instinct, is a triumph-a moving, provocative, andentertaining exploration of the human search for meaning. -- Paul Bloom, Professor of Psychology, Yale University
Review
Since God didn't exist, our human ancestors found it necessary toinvent him. In this scintillating book, Jesse Bering explains, withcharacteristic wit and wisdom, how, in the course of human evolution,God returned the compliment--by helping individuals, despite themselves,lead better lives. -- Nicholas Humphrey, author of
Review
There's a place in our minds where God goes. This spellbinding bookexplains how: We humans find the idea of God inviting because we evolvedto perceive minds all around us. Bering's own clever research onchildren's perceptions of the supernatural is the centerpiece in hisrich portrayal of the newly unfolding science of belief in God. -- Daniel M. Wegner, Harvard University, author of
Review
"Witty... [Bering] employs examples and analogies that make his arguments seem like common sense rather than the hard-earned scientific insights they really are." New Scientist
Review
"A colorful romp through psychology, philosophy and popular culture." New Humanist
Synopsis
God is not merely an idea to be entertained or discarded based on the evidence. Nor is God a cultural invention, an existential Band-Aid, or an opiate of the masses. Instead, Jesse Bering argues, belief in God evolved in the human species as an "adaptive illusion." Drawing on groundbreaking research in cognitive science, The Belief Instinctunravels the evolutionary mystery of why we grapple for meaning, purpose, and destiny in our everyday lives. Bering argues that the strangely deep-rooted sense that some intentional agent created us as individuals, wants us to behave in particular ways, observes our otherwise private actions, and intends to meet us after we die would also have been felt by our ancestors, leading them to behave in ways that favored their reputations—and thus saved their genes. But in today's world, these psychological illusions have outlasted their evolutionary purpose, and Bering draws our attention to a whole new challenge: escaping them.
Synopsis
In this lively and masterfully argued new book, Jesse Bering unveils the psychological underpinnings of why we believe. Combining lucid accounts of surprising new studies with insights into literature, philosophy, and even pop culture, Bering gives us a narrative that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. He sheds light on such topics as our search for a predestined life purpose, our desire to read divine messages into natural disasters and other random occurrences, our visions of the afterlife, and our curiosity about how moral and immoral behavior are rewarded or punished in this life Bering traces all of these beliefs and desires to a single trait of human psychology, known as the "theory of mind," which enables us to guess at the intentions and thoughts of others. He then takes this groundbreaking argument one step further, revealing how the instinct to believe in God and other unknowable forces gave early humans an evolutionary advantage. But now that these psychological illusions have outlasted their evolutionary purpose, Bering draws our attention to a whole new challenge: escaping them Thanks to Bering's insight and wit, The Belief Instinct will reward readers with an enlightened understanding of the universal human tendency to believe-and the tools to break free.
Synopsis
A surprising new take on why we believe in God—and how this belief ensured the survival of the human species.
Synopsis
The surprising psychology behind why we believe in God, the supernatural, and the afterlife.
Synopsis
Top 25 Books of 2011 by the American Library Association, Choice Reviews Named one of the 11 Best Psychology Books of 2011 by "A balanced and considered approach to this often inflammatory topic." --
About the Author
Jesse Bering, Ph.D., is a frequent contributor to Scientific American, Slate, and Das Magazin. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Guardian, and The New Republic, and has been featured on NPR, the BBC, Playboy Radio, and more. Bering is the former director of the Institute of Cognition and Culture at Queen's University, Belfast, and began his career as a professor at the University of Arkansas. He lives near Ithaca, New York.