How We Believe_ Science and the Search for God - Michael Shermer [6]
I am especially grateful for the additional input provided by my agents Katinka Matson and John Brockman, my editor John Michel and my publicist Sloane Lederer at W. H. Freeman and Company (as well as Diane Maass, Peter McGuigan, and all the folks in production at this fine publishing house); as well as Louise Ketz and Simone Cooper; and for taking the time to read individual chapters or provide valuable feedback on my thinking I thank Richard Abanes, Michele Bonnice, Richard Dawkins, Jared Diamond, Richard Elliott Friedman, Ursula Goodenough, Alex Grobman, Donald Johanson, Elizabeth Knoll, J. Gordon Melton, Massimo Pigliucci, Michael Ruse, Eugenie Scott, Nancy Segal, Frank Tipler, Bob Trivers, Edward O. Wilson, and Rabbi Edward Zerin. Bruce Mazet and Frank Miele both went above and beyond the call of duty to both critique and support my efforts to grasp the deeper meaning of the God Question; and James Randi, as always, serves as inspiration requiring perspiration to keep up with his tireless efforts to keep us on our intellectual toes.
The influence of Frank Sulloway on my thinking is immeasurable, but not his effect on this book, especially Chapter 4 and our corroboration on the study of religious attitudes, which can be measured precisely and significantly at three sigmas above the mean. I am also deeply appreciative of my Skeptics Society partner Pat Linse, not only for her brilliant artwork and design of Skeptic magazine and for preparing all of the illustrations for this book, but also for the conversations on God and religion that have kept in check my occasional paroxysms of irritations with religion.
Finally, I thank Kim for being my wife, confidante, and best friend who has refereed the countless wrestling matches that go on in my mind about the timeless questions that concern us all; and Devin (although she had no choice in the matter) for being my daughter, joy, and source of mind-cleansing play so necessary to get rid of the cognitive clutter that goes with research and writing.
When we began the Skeptics Society and Skeptic magazine in 1992 we adopted a quote from the seventeenth-century philosopher and religious thinker Baruch Spinoza: “I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.” When it comes to religion it is especially difficult for any of us to apply this principle consistently. But if we do, the moral dilemma of how to discuss the God Question without offense may be resolved. As my friend and colleague Stephen Jay Gould told me: “You cannot understand the human condition without understanding religion or religious arguments.”
I hope that this book in some small way adds to our understanding of the human condition.
INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPERBACK EDITION
The Gradual Illumination of the Mind
Reconsiderations and Recapitulations on the God Question
It appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against christianity and theism produce hardly any effect on the public; and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men’s minds which follows from the advance of science.
—Charles Darwin
In the first edition of this book I wrote on page xv of the Preface: “Of course it is okay for people to believe in God; moreover, people will believe regardless of what I say or think.” The second part of this sentence can be verified, since God’s ratings have not slipped in the polls one iota since How We Believe was first released in October 1999. In fact, a March 2000 poll from Gallup shows that, as always, belief in God remains potent, not only in America but worldwide:
—Belief in God: Even when Gallup added the option for respondents that they “don’t believe in God, but believe in