How We Believe, 2nd Ed.
Page 44
secular
secularization of
sociology of
supply-side
theory of
as a virus
religiosity
and age
and agreeableness
and brain
and church attendance
and conscientiousness
and education
and environment
and gender
and genes
interest in science and
and openness to experience
and parental conflict
and parents
and personality
and political beliefs
and political liberalism
predictors of
and skeptics
and tender-mindedness
of twins
and upbringing
variables that shape
religious apocalyptic scenarios
religious attribution bias
religious belief
undermining of
religious books
religious competition
religious conviction
religious doubt
religious naturalism
religious right
religious tendencies heritability of
renewal myth
residue problem
revelation
truth through
Rips, Eliyahu
Ritter, Bill
Roman empire
Roosevelt, Franklin
Rosenberg, Milt
Rosenberg, Yoav
Ross, Hugh
Ruse, Michael
Russell, Bertrand
Sacred and the Profane. The (Eliade)
Sacred Depths of Nature, The (Goodenough)
sacred science
Sagan, Carl
Saint-Jouin de Marnes, Carlulaire
same-worlds model of science and religion
Sarich, Vince
Satan
Schlessinger, Dr. Laura
Schroeder, Gerald
Schultz, Dwight
Schwartz, Hillel
science
as art of the soluble
and Extropians
and faith
and Genesis
interest in, and religiosity
and patterns
and religion
and religion, models of
and religious intensity
rise of, and decline of religion
as a type of myth
Science, Age of
science, sacred
Science of God, The (Schroeder)
scientism
scientists
belief in God and immortality
Scopes “Monkey Trial”
Scott, Eugenie
Second Coming
Secret Origins of the Bible, The (Callahan)
secular apocalyptic scenarios
secular millennialists
secular religion
secular religion of progress
secularization of religion
Segal, Nancy
Selfish Gene. The (Dawkins)
self-deception
separate-worlds model of science and religion
Seven Promises
Seven Theories of Religion (Pals)
sexes, equality between the
shapeshifting
Sherpas
Sherrill, Martha
Shroud of Turin
shunning
Shute, Nevel
Siberian Ghost Dance
Signature of God, The (Jeffrey and Rambsel)
Simpson, Nicole Brown
Sitting Bull
situational attribution
Skeptic magazine
skeptics
on belief and nonbelief in God
Skeptics Society
Skeptics and True Believers (Raymo)
Skeptics Survey of belief in God
Skinner, B. F.
skyhooks
Smith, Adam
Smith, George
Smith, John Maynard
Smolin, Lee
snakes
fear and fascination of
Snowden, David
Sober, Elliott
social class
social environment
social scientists
Sociobiology (Wilson)
socioeconomic status (SES)
Sociology of Religion, The (Weber)
soft-core atheists
soluble, art of the
Something There
soul
Soviet Union
spandrels
species altruism
speech
evolution of
Spence, Gerry
Spilka, Bernard
Spinoza, Baruch
spirit, nobility of
spirituality
biology of
Star Trek (TV program)
Statistical Science journal
Stearns, Peter
Stein, Gordon
Stephen Hawking’s Universe (TV series)
Stewart, Ian
Stewart, Jimmy
storytelling
see also mythmaking
Street Science (radio show)
Sulloway, Frank
Sulloway–Shermer survey of belief in God
Summa Theologica (Aquinas)
supernatural
supernatural consolation
superstition
supply-side religion
survival
and Belief Engine
and myths and superstitions
Swinburne, Richard
Symons, Donald
synapses
Talking to Heaven (Van Praagh)
taste aversion
Tavibo
Tavris, Carol
Taylor, A. E.
television programs
and religious or spiritual themes
temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE)
temporal lobe transients
tender-mindedness
and religiosity
theism, theists
theology and cosmology
Theories of Primitive Religion (Evans-Pritchard)
There’s a New World Coming (Lindsey)
thinking errors and hits
Thomists
Thompson, Damian
Thorne, Kip
thought contagion
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Nietzsche)
Tillich, Paul
Time magazine
cover stories on religion
“Is God Dead?” cover story
Time/CNN end of the world poll
Tipler, Frank
Tit for Tat program
Tooby, John
Torah
trigger effect
triskaidekaphobia
Trobriand Islanders
Trumpet Shall Sound, The (Worsley)
truth
believing
rejecting
through revelation
see also thinking errors and hits
Truth Cannot Contradict Truth (John Paul II)
20/20 (TV program)
twins and religiosity
2001: A Space Odyssey (Clarke)
Tylor, Edward
UFOs
Unamuno, Miguel
unconditional apocalypticism
Unitarians and belief in God
United States Energy Department
universal spirit
universe
Unsolved Mysteries (TV program)
Unto Others (Sober and Wilson)
upbringing
and belief in God
and religiosity
urban legend
U.S. News and World Report
cover stories on religion
Second Coming poll
Ussher, Archbishop James
Van Praagh, James
Vanishing Hitchhiker, The (Brunvand)
Variable Ra
tio Schedule of reinforcement
Velikovsky, Immanuel
Virgin Mary
appearances of
Vyse, Stuart
Wade, Carole
Walford, Roy
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Wallace, Anthony
Walsh, Neale Donald
Walters, Barbara
warm readings
Wason, Peter
Watchtower Society
Waterworld (film)
Wealth of Nations, The (Smith)
Weber, Max
Weinberg, Steven
werewolf myths
When Bad Things Happen to Good People (Kushner)
Whewell, William
White, Andrew Dickson
White, Michael
Who Needs God (Kushner)
Who Wrote the Bible? (Friedman)
Who Wrote the Gospels? (Helms)
Who Wrote the New Testament? (Mack)
Why People Believe Weird Things (Shermer)
why questions
Whys of a Philosophical Scrivener. The (Gardner)
Williams, George
Williams, Ted
Wilson, Bill
Wilson, David Sloane
Wilson, Edward O.
Wilson, Jack, see Wovoka
Witchcraft (Evans-Pritchard)
Witchel, Alex
Witham, Larry
Witztum, Doron
Wodziwob
Wojcik, Daniel
Wonderful Life (Gould)
world, end of the
Worsley, Peter
Wounded Knee
Wovoka (Jack Wilson)
Wulff, David
Xhosa tribe
Yanomamö
year A.D. 1000
Yeats, William Butler
Yellow Bird
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL SHERMER, PH.D., is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine (www.skeptic.com), the director of the Skeptics Society, the host of Skeptics Lecture Series at Caltech, and a contributing editor of and monthly columnist for Scientific American. He is the author of Why People Believe Weird Things, Denying History, and The Borderlands of Science. He lives in Southern California.
An Owl Book® and ® are registered trademarks of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 2000 by Michael Shermer
Afterword copyright © 2003 by Michael Shermer
All rights reserved.
All artwork and illustrations, except as noted in the Credits, are by Pat Linse, Art Director of Skeptic magazine, are copyrighted by Pat Linse, and are reprinted with permission.
For further information on the Skeptics Society and Skeptic magazine, and to contact the author: P.O. Box 338, Altadena, CA 91001; 626/794-3119; Fax: 626/794-1301; Web Page address: www.skeptic.com and e-mail address: skepticmag@aol.com. To subscribe (free) to the Skeptic Mag Internet Hotline send an e-mail to: join-skeptics@lyris.net.
Owl Books
Henry Holt and Company. LLC
Publishers since 1866
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New York, New York 10010
www.henryholt.com
First published in hardcover in 2000 by W. H. Freeman and Company
Designed by Cambraia Fernandes
eISBN 9781429996747
First eBook Edition : May 2011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Shermer, Michael.
How we believe: science, skepticism, and the search for God /
Michael Shermer.—2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-7479-6
ISBN-10: 0-8050-7479-1
1. Religion and science. 2. Faith and reason. 1. Title.
BL240.2.S545 1999
99-40406
215—dc21
CIP
Henry Holt books are available for special promotions and premiums.
For details contact: Director, Special Markets.
First Owl Books Edition 2002
Second Owl Books Edition 2003
A W. H. Freeman / Owl Book
Table of Contents
Epigraph
Title Page
Epigraph
PREFACE - The God Question
INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION - The Gradual Illumination of the Mind
Part I - GOD AND BELIEF
Chapter 1 - DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD?
A LEAP OF FAITH
A BREACH IN THE FAITH
THE ART OF THE INSOLUBLE
WHAT IS GOD?
THE FAITH OF THE FLATLANDERS
Chapter 2 - IS GOD DEAD?
GOD IN THE 1960s
TIME AND GOD
GOD’S RESURRECTION
SUPPLY-SIDE RELIGION AND THE SECULARIZATION OF THE WORLD
SOCIAL INDICATORS OF GOD
SACRED SCIENCE
Chapter 3 - THE BELIEF ENGINE
THE PATTERN-SEEKING ANIMAL
THE MEDIEVAL BELIEF ENGINE
THE MODERN BELIEF ENGINE
TALKING TWADDLE WITH THE DEAD
Chapter 4 - WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE IN GOD
SEEING THE PATTERN OF GOD
IS BELIEF IN GOD GENETICALLY PROGRAMMED?
IS THERE A GOD MODULE IN THE BRAIN?
GOD AS MEME
SCIENTISTS’ BELIEF IN GOD
WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE IN GOD
INTELLECTUAL AND EMOTIONAL REASONS TO BELIEVE
ALL’S RIGHT WITH GOD IN HIS HEAVEN
Chapter 5 - O YE OF LITTLE FAITH
PHILOSOPHICAL ARGUMENTS FOR GOD
SCIENTIFIC ARGUMENTS FOR GOD
THE NEW COSMOLOGY
THE NEW CREATIONISM
THE BIBLE CODE
THE REAL MEANING OF ARGUMENTS FOR GOD
Part II - RELIGION AND SCIENCE
Chapter 6 - IN A MIRROR DIMLY, THEN FACE TO FACE
A THREE-TIERED MODEL OF RELIGION AND SCIENCE
MORAL COURAGE AND NOBILITY OF SPIRIT
Chapter 7 - THE STORYTELLING ANIMAL
THE HOW AND THE WHY: IN SEARCH OF DEEPER ANSWERS
FROM PATTERN-SEEKING TO STORYTELLING
FROM STORYTELLING TO MYTHMAKING
FROM MYTHMAKING TO MORALITY
FROM MORALITY TO RELIGION
FROM RELIGION TO GOD
Chapter 8 - GOD AND THE GHOST DANCE
THE GHOST DANCE AS MYTHMAKING
THE 1890 GHOST DANCE
THE ETERNAL, RETURN OF THE GHOST DANCE
THE CARGO CULT GHOST DANCE
JESUS AS MESSIAH MYTH
WHY THE MESSIAH MYTH RETURNS
Chapter 9 - THE FIRE THAT WILL CLEANSE
WHAT IS THE MILLENNIUM?
WHEN PROPHECY FAILS—A.D. 1000
WHEN PROPHECY FAILS—A.D. 2000
THE LURE OF THE MILLENNIUM
HEAVEN ON EARTH
SECULAR HEAVENS
HOLDING THE CENTER
Chapter 10 - GLORIOUS CONTINGENCY
IF THE TAPE WERE PLAYED TWICE
THE MISMEASURE OF CONTINGENCY
CONTINGENT-NECESSITY
GLORIOUS CONTINGENCY: A LITTLE TWIG CALLED HOMO SAPIENS
THE FULL IMPACT OF CONTINGENCY
CONTINGENCY AND FREEDOM
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
FINDING MEANING IN A CONTINGENT UNIVERSE
AFTERWORD TO THE SECOND EDITION - God on the Brain
APPENDIX I - What Does It Mean to Study Religion Scientifically? Or, How Social Scientists “Do” Science
APPENDIX II - Why People Believe in God—The Data and Statistics
A Bibliographic Essay on Theism, Atheism, and Why People Believe in God
NOTES
CREDITS
INDEX
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Copyright Page