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No. 38, May 2011
To believe - or not.
To "believe," according to Merriam-Webster, means "to accept something as true, genuine or real," or "to hold an opinion." It can also mean "to have a firm religious faith," and "to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy or ability of something."
Four new books address belief in some way - whether via critical thinking, paranormal investigation, or atheism:
· In Believing Bullshit, Stephen Law discusses how ridiculous views get entrenched in the minds of even sane, well-educated people and turn them into the willing slaves of claptrap. He explains how these "true believers" convince themselves that they are rational and reasonable, and that everyone else is deluded.
· In Tracking the Man-Beasts, Joe Nickell - the world's only professional paranormal investigator - explores the historical, geographical, and cultural reaches of various "manimals" and other humanoid entities - such as Bigfoot, zombies, mermaids, and aliens.
· In The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning, physicist Victor J. Stenger - author of the New York Times bestseller God: The Failed Hypothesis addresses the science behind the argument that a creator god intentionally calibrated the initial conditions of the universe such that life on earth and the evolution of humanity would eventually emerge.
· In Reasonable Atheism, Scott F. Aikin and Robert B. Talisse attempt to introduce a note of civility and rational clarity to the dialogue between religious believers and nonbelievers. They counsel a measured approach that combines serious intellectual engagement with respect for the reasonableness of the other side's position.
Read more about each below. |
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Believing Bullshit
Ridiculous belief systems abound. Members of the Heaven's Gate suicide cult believed they were taking a ride to heaven on board a UFO. Muslim suicide bombers expect to be greeted after death by 72 heavenly virgins. Significant numbers of people believe that aliens built the pyramids, that the Holocaust never happened, and that the World Trade Center was destroyed by the U.S. government.
Believing Bullshit identifies eight key mechanisms that can transform a set of ideas into a psychological flytrap. Philosopher Stephen Law suggests that, like the black holes of outer space, from which nothing, not even light, can escape, our contemporary cultural landscape contains numerous intellectual black-holes-belief systems constructed in such a way that unwary passers-by can similarly find themselves drawn in. While such self-sealing bubbles of belief will most easily trap the gullible or poorly educated, even the most intelligent and educated of us are potentially vulnerable. Some of the world's greatest thinkers have fallen in, never to escape.
"Stephen Law offers us not only a primer on how not to believe but about why so many people do believe bullshit, despite the lack of evidence for such beliefs, or even in the face of disconfirmatory evidence," says D. J. Grothe, president of the James Randi Educational Foundation and host of For Good Reason. "It is a roadmap to a promised land free of undue credulity, where the best ideas win and 'intellectual black holes' no longer suck people in. Believing Bullshit should be read by every college freshman and every person seeking public office, and its strategies memorized and put to use by every critical thinker."
Law's witty, insightful critique will help immunize readers by clearly setting out the tricks of the trade by which insidious belief systems are created and maintained.
"Everyone who values truth, reason, and evidence over sophistry should buy this book," says Chris French, editor of The Skeptic magazine. |
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 Tracking the Man-Beasts
Does the enduring fascination in movies and literature with vampires and werewolves have any basis in reality? Does Bigfoot or the Himalayan Yeti or the Australian Yowie really exist? Are extraterrestrials really abducting people to create alien hybrids or conversely to impart messages of hope for our fragile planet? Are they real creatures or only expressions of our very human hopes and fears?
In Tracking the Man-Beasts, veteran paranormal investigator Joe Nickell discusses monster men such as Gigantopithecus and Neanderthals; hairy man-beasts like Sasquatch and the elusive de Loys' Ape; supernatural beings, including werewolves, vampires, and devil men; and supposedly spaceship-borne entities like Mothman and the Roswell humanoids.
"Nickell is the master solver of major popular mysteries, and here he directs his formidable investigative and literary talents to a topic that endlessly fascinates us all - manlike monsters more or less imagined in our own image," says Kendrick Frazier, editor of Skeptical Inquirer. "No one does such investigations better... another superb effort."
Tracking the Man-Beasts takes the reader on expeditions into wilderness areas, explores historical contexts, and brings folkloric and iconographic evidence to bear on a category of mysteries as old as humanity.
Library Journal says, "This fun book includes loads of information and would serve as a good overview
for anyone interested in legends and monsters." |
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The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning
A number of authors have noted that if some physical parameters were slightly changed, the universe could no longer support life, as we know it. This implies that life depends sensitively on the physics of our universe. Does this "fine-tuning" of the universe also suggest that a creator god intentionally calibrated the initial conditions of the universe such that life on earth and the evolution of humanity would eventually emerge? Some influential scientists, such as National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, think so. Others go even further, asserting that science "has found God."
In this in-depth, lucid discussion of this fascinating and controversial topic, physicist Victor J. Stenger looks at the same evidence and comes to the opposite conclusion. After many years of research in particle physics and thinking about its implications, he finds that the observations of science and our naked senses not only show no evidence for God, they provide evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that God does not exist.
Stenger argues that many of the claims by theists are based on their misunderstanding of the science. He looks at the specific parameters and shows that plausible reasons can be found for the values they have within the existing standard models of physics and cosmology. These models are introduced in detail so that the reader has the background needed to understand the role of the parameters claimed to be fine-tuned and judge the veracity of the arguments. He also discusses related issues such as whether or not the universe had a beginning, what quantum mechanics implies about the involvement of human consciousness in affecting reality, and whether evidence can be found in nature for a divine plan.
This is Stenger's most thorough exploration of fine-tuning - a topic that continues to intrigue scientists and the lay public alike. |
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Reasonable Atheism
Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, says, "Aikin and Talisse have made an important and original contribution in building a case that, more than religious skepticism, atheism is also a worldview that is both reasonable and, ultimately, moral. This book will do more to push the public's perception of atheism in a positive direction than any work published before. [Reasonable Atheism is] a vital addition to philosophical and skeptical literature."
The heart of the book - which Kirkus Reviews calls "...an intriguing view of the complexities of modern atheism" - is the authors' moral case for atheism. Atheism, they contend, manifests a decidedly moral concern for others and their wellbeing. The authors further argue that atheism is driven by the kinds of moral considerations that should be familiar to all religious believers. Atheists are motivated by a moral concern for others, a desire to alleviate suffering and combat evil, and an appreciation for the value of life, freedom, and responsibility. |
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About the Authors
 Stephen Law (Oxford, England) is a senior lecturer in philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London; provost for the Centre for Inquiry UK; and the editor of Think: Philosophy for Everyone (a journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy). He is the author of numerous books for adults as well as children, including The Greatest Philosophers, Companion Guide to Philosophy, The War for Children's Minds, and Really, Really Big Questions, among other works.
 Joe Nickell (Amherst, NY) has been called "the modern Sherlock Holmes" and "the real-life Scully" (from the X-Files). He has been on the trail of man-beasts and other mysterious creatures and phenomena for four decades. Since 1995 he has been the world's only fulltime, professional, science-based paranormal investigator. His careful, often innovative investigations have won him international respect in a field charged with controversy. He is the author of numerous books, including most recently Real or Fake? Studies in Authentication and Adventures in Paranormal Investigation.
 Victor J. Stenger (Lafayette, CO) is adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado and emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Hawaii. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller God: The Failed Hypothesis, and many other books, including The New Atheism, Quantum Gods, The Comprehensible Cosmos, The Unconscious Quantum, Has Science Found God?, Timeless Reality, and Physics and Psychics.
 Scott F. Aikin (Nashville, TN) is a senior lecturer in the philosophy department at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Pragmatism: A Guide for the Perplexed (with Robert B. Talisse) and Epistemology and the Regress Problem. Robert B. Talisse (Nashville, TN) is a professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Democracy and Moral Conflict, Pragmatism: A Guide for the Perplexed (with Scott F. Aikin), A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy, and Democracy After Liberalism.
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Look for these related books
this summer:
 How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass (July) In this witty, incisive guide to critical thinking Christopher W. DiCarlo, PhD provides tools to allow you to question beliefs and assumptions held by those who claim to know what they're talking about. These days there are many people whom we need to question: politicians, lawyers, doctors, teachers, clergy members, bankers, car salesmen, and your boss. This book will empower you with the ability to spot faulty reasoning and, by asking the right sorts of questions, hold people accountable not
only for what they believe but how they behave.
 The End of Christianity (July) In this successor to the critically acclaimed The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails, John Loftus - former minister and now a
leading atheist spokesperson - has assembled a stellar group of respected scholars. Malcolm Murray, PhD., author of The Atheist's Primer, says "No collection better demonstrates how taking Christianity seriously reveals its all too human origin... superb, often witty, and exceedingly well-researched... Overall, very sobering for Christians, and so wonderfully delightful for the rest of us."
 Denying Science (August) As prolific popular science and science fiction writer John Grant shows in this witty book with a very serious message, our culture has in recent decades been characterized by a widespread antagonism toward science and the not-always-welcome messages it brings. He surveys the gamut of clearly unscientific ideas and examines how special interests actively work to distort or suppress scientific findings.
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We believe these new and forthcoming books offer much food for thought and perhaps will kick-start your summer reading list.
Thank you for your time,
Jill Maxick
Prometheus Books
publicity@prometheusbooks.com
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