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thehappybooker 's review for:
I've been pondering the issues in this book for many years, and I may finally have stumbled on a book with new insights. This is a book selection for a skeptics discussion group.
Thoughts:
(1) ABBA's song "Knowing me, knowing you" kept going through my head while reading this book. That's what the essence is: we know ourselves, and when we observe others act or react, we project our motives onto them. This is called the theory of mind.
(2) This "theory of mind" is also at work when people assign motives and intentionality to a deity that they imagine is behind an act of physics or disease. Example: "I was spared for a reason."
(3) Projecting meaning onto random occurrences gives people a feeling of control over the uncontrollable, and it also gives most people a great sense of comfort that their lives have purpose and are more than just one-in-7-billion, accidental, biological, temporary, insignificant. (I'm perfectly ok with the fact that the universe is entirely indifferent to my existence, but I know I'm definitely a statistical outlier when it comes to being ok with obscurity and meaninglessness. I believe in meanings, not Meaning).
(4) When people talk to their computers or their cars, they know the difference between fantasy and reality. They know they aren't really talking to a living, conscious being. Then why do people lose that ability to tell real from fiction when it comes to angels, elves, UFOs and gods? Because from an evolutionary standpoint, it would be helpful to have a powerful ally against things that go bump in the night.
(5) We are deeply hardwired to see patterns of meaning, whether they actually exist or not. This has kept members of our species alive when we see patterns that reveal danger, but sometimes it works against us - that is where superstition comes from. We are hardwired to be superstitious. Much as we'd like to believe we're perfectly rational at all times, there are times when the scared child in us hides under the blankets.
I've read elsewhere that autistic people are less likely to believe in God than the rest of the population. Maybe this is because they don't possess a theory of mind, which infers motivations to the actions of others. If they can't attribute states of mind to other beings (people, dogs, or deities), they don't see a reason to assign intentionality to physical phenomenon or coincidence. This sounds like a perfect subject for neuroscientific research.
Highly recommended. I also recommend "When God Talks Back" - the evangelical Christian experience as described by an anthropologist.
Thoughts:
(1) ABBA's song "Knowing me, knowing you" kept going through my head while reading this book. That's what the essence is: we know ourselves, and when we observe others act or react, we project our motives onto them. This is called the theory of mind.
(2) This "theory of mind" is also at work when people assign motives and intentionality to a deity that they imagine is behind an act of physics or disease. Example: "I was spared for a reason."
(3) Projecting meaning onto random occurrences gives people a feeling of control over the uncontrollable, and it also gives most people a great sense of comfort that their lives have purpose and are more than just one-in-7-billion, accidental, biological, temporary, insignificant. (I'm perfectly ok with the fact that the universe is entirely indifferent to my existence, but I know I'm definitely a statistical outlier when it comes to being ok with obscurity and meaninglessness. I believe in meanings, not Meaning).
(4) When people talk to their computers or their cars, they know the difference between fantasy and reality. They know they aren't really talking to a living, conscious being. Then why do people lose that ability to tell real from fiction when it comes to angels, elves, UFOs and gods? Because from an evolutionary standpoint, it would be helpful to have a powerful ally against things that go bump in the night.
(5) We are deeply hardwired to see patterns of meaning, whether they actually exist or not. This has kept members of our species alive when we see patterns that reveal danger, but sometimes it works against us - that is where superstition comes from. We are hardwired to be superstitious. Much as we'd like to believe we're perfectly rational at all times, there are times when the scared child in us hides under the blankets.
I've read elsewhere that autistic people are less likely to believe in God than the rest of the population. Maybe this is because they don't possess a theory of mind, which infers motivations to the actions of others. If they can't attribute states of mind to other beings (people, dogs, or deities), they don't see a reason to assign intentionality to physical phenomenon or coincidence. This sounds like a perfect subject for neuroscientific research.
Highly recommended. I also recommend "When God Talks Back" - the evangelical Christian experience as described by an anthropologist.