Why we believe in god(s) : a concise guide to the science of faith

Why We Believe In God(s) provides a brief and accessible guide to the exciting new discoveries that allow us to finally understand why and how the human mind generates, accepts, and spreads religious beliefs. In this groundbreaking work, J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD, with Clare Aukofer, offers a succinct yet comprehensive study of how and why the human mind generates religious belief. Dr. Thomson, a highly regarded psychiatrist known for his studies of suicide terrorism, investigates the components and causes of religious belief in the same way any scientist would investigate the movement of astronomical bodies or the evolution of life over time, that is, as a purely natural phenomenon. Providing compelling evidence from cognitive psychology and the neurosciences, he presents an easily accessible and exceptionally convincing case that god(s) were created by man, not vice versa. With this volume, Dr. Thomson establishes himself as a must-read thinker and leading voice on the primacy of reason and science over superstition and religion. As Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, states in his foreword to Why We Believe in God(s), This ... book will be swiftly read--and long remembered In this groundbreaking volume, J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., MD, with Clare Aukofer, offers a succinct yet comprehensive study of how and why the human mind generates religious belief. Dr. Thomson, a highly respected practicing psychiatrist with credentials in forensic psychiatry and evolutionary psychology, methodically investigates the components and causes of religious belief in the same way any scientist would investigate the movement of astronomical bodies or the evolution of life over time—that is, as a purely natural phenomenon. Providing compelling evidence from psychology, the cognitive neurosciences, and related fields, he, with Ms. Aukofer, presents an easily accessible and exceptionally convincing case that god(s) were created by man—not vice versa. With this slim volume, Dr. Thomson establishes himself as a must-read thinker and leading voice on the primacy of reason and science over superstition and religion. In the beginning was the word : our propensity to believe In the image and likeness : evolution 101 Our daily bread : craving a caretaker All that is seen and unseen : conceiving souls Because the bible tells me so : believing in the invisible And deliver us from evil : anthropomorphizing god(s) Thy will be done : submitting to the law of god(s) Wherever two or more of you are gathered : harnessing brain chemistry through ritual Oh ye of little faith : discovering the physical evidence of god(s) as by-product Lest ye be judged : educating our minds.