Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief - Brossura

Wolpert, Lewis

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0393332039 ISBN 13: 9780393332032

Casa editrice: W W Norton & Co Inc, 2008

Riassunto

A biology professor and author of Malignant Sadness offers a scientific analysis of the nature of belief, examining both its psychological basis and potential evolutionary origins in physical cause and effect, and discusses what science reveals about everyday beliefs that give meaning to experience, religious faith, and paranormal beliefs. Reprint.

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Product Description:

Why do 70 percent of Americans believe in angels, while others are convinced that they were abducted by aliens? What makes people believe in improbable things when all the evidence points to the contrary? And don't almost all of us, at some time or another, engage in magical thinking?In Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast, evolutionary biologist Lewis Wolpert delves into the important and timely debate over the nature of belief, looking at its psychological foundations to discover just what evolutionary purpose it could serve. Wolpert takes us through all that science can tell us about the beliefs we feel are instinctive. He deftly explores different types of belief-those of children, of the religious, and of those suffering from psychiatric disorders-and he asks whether it is possible to live without belief, or whether it is a necessary component of a functioning society.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Data di pubblicazione: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0393332039
• ISBN 13: 9780393332032
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 243