How We Believe_ Science and the Search for God - Michael Shermer [191]
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 Ratio 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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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