The Believing Brain

From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies - How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths

By: Michael Shermer

Narrated by: Michael Shermer

Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

In this, his magnum opus, the world’s best known skeptic and critical thinker, Dr. Michael Shermer—founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and perennial monthly columnist (“Skeptic”) for Scientific American—presents his comprehensive theory on how beliefs are born, formed, nourished, reinforced, challenged, changed, and extinguished. This book synthesizes Dr. Shermer’s 30 years of research to answer the question of how and why we believe what we do in all aspects of our lives, from our suspicions and superstitions to our politics, economics, and social beliefs.

In this book Dr. Shermer is interested in more than just why people believe weird things, or why people believe this or that claim, but in why people believe anything at all. His thesis is straightforward: We form our beliefs for a variety of subjective, personal, emotional, and psychological reasons in the context of environments created by family, friends, colleagues, culture, and society at large; after forming our beliefs, we then defend, justify, and rationalize them with a host of intellectual reasons, cogent arguments, and rational explanations. Beliefs come first, explanations for beliefs follow.

Dr. Shermer also explains the neuroscience behind our beliefs. The brain is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. These meaningful patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed, the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which adds an emotional boost of further confidence in the beliefs and thereby accelerates the process of reinforcing them—and round and round the process goes in a positive feedback loop of belief confirmation. Dr. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths and to insure that we are always right.

©2011 Michael Shermer (P)2011 Michael Shermer

Critic reviews

“The physicist Richard Feynman once said that the easiest person to fool is yourself, and as a result he argued that as a scientist one has to be especially careful to try and find out not only what is right about one's theories, but what might also be wrong with them. If we all followed this maxim of skepticism in everyday life, the world would probably be a better place. But we don't. In this book Michael Shermer lucidly describes why and how we are hard wired to 'want to believe'. With a narrative that gently flows from the personal to the profound, Shermer shares what he has learned after spending a lifetime pondering the relationship between beliefs and reality, and how to be prepared to tell the difference between the two.” (Lawrence M. Krauss, Foundation Professor and Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, author of Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science)

“ The Believing Brain is a tour de force integrating neuroscience and the social sciences to explain how irrational beliefs are formed and reinforced, while leaving us confident our ideas are valid. This is a must read for everyone who wonders why religious and political beliefs are so rigid and polarized—or why the other side is always wrong, but somehow doesn't see it.” (Dr. Leonard Mlodinow, author of The Drunkard’s Walk and The Grand Design with Stephen Hawking)

Dr. Shermer is a skeptic's hero!

Would you listen to The Believing Brain again? Why?

Yes, I probably will. There's a lot of information to grasp, and listening to a second time will help me recall the information in discussions on these topics.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Non-fiction, no characters.

What does Michael Shermer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A lot of science history is presented (maye a little too much, to be honest).

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I enjoyed the part on religion, which is my big personal point of interest.

Any additional comments?

Dr. Shermer does an excellent job of cutting through the noise and laying out the argument for skepticism. I really enjoyed this book, but here are my few thoughts as to what prevented it from getting five stars:

1. I tend to be more liberal than Dr. Shermer, so his section on politics ruffled my feathers a bit. He didn't work overly hard to present an unbiased view, instead laying out a basic arguement for civil liberarianism. It was still a good section, but I found myself wanting to argue with some of the things that were written there.

2. Dr. Shermer does the *funniest* voices sometimes when he is quoting people, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't realize it. Even when quoting someone he really respects, he does this funny mock impersonation that sounds like he is making fun of them. I actually really enjoyed that, so it didn't ding my rating at all.

3. The book ran a little unneccessarily long at points, especially at the end. I feel like Dr. Shermer could've said everything he wanted to say in half the words, but then some editor came and prodded him into making it longer to maximize profits. I think this book could've almost succeeded better in the micro book format used by Sam Harris.

Overall, still well worth the read! I intend to get more books by Dr. Shermer soon.

More filling, but less taste than a dozen books

The author gives us many anecdotes and stories which are all done better in other books I have listened to with Audible, but no one has them all in once place as this book does. Your choice than would be to listen to about a dozen other good books or listen to this one and sacrifice some quality of exposition.

He almost always gives credit for thoughts he borrowed from other authors and than summarizes them in his own words. (One exception, I don't think he gave credit to Brian Greene when he seemed to be borrowing from him).

The book does read mostly like a series of essays. The author does a workmanlike job of putting the pieces together and does have a interesting theme he is working towards, 'belief comes before understanding', and 'patternicity' and 'agentnicity' influence our beliefs.

The author is not a very good reader and I wished he had hired a professional reader. Soon after I finished this book I started listening to another book by a professional reader and I thought, 'what a difference a good reader makes'.

A Great Read On Understanding Belief

Where does The Believing Brain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is my first audiobook that I have listened to. I would need listen to more books to give a more accurate answer. However, I was quite surprised how much I enjoyed listening to a book. I am an avid reader and use my Kindle extensively.

What other book might you compare The Believing Brain to and why?

I have no context to compare this book with. This book has excited my neuroscience quest.

Which scene was your favorite?

In general, without giving away too much of the book because I belief people should listen, I found the explanation that was expounded through the whole book of Belief first then Reasons.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

The title of the book would be a good film title. Another title, 'Do You Believe?' Or 'Brain Believer'.

I have to get this book in print now.

Where does The Believing Brain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This book ranks in the top 5. I learned just how much we base beliefs on emotions and how reasons to support those beliefs come second. I think people have to be willing to be open to evidence. If you don't believe Dr. Shermer, by all means chase down his references and make sure he's telling the truth.

The best book so far on explaining beliefs

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

without hesitation. It allows the reader to look at different beliefs/superstitions from the outside

Good subject - poor performance

Would you listen to The Believing Brain again? Why?

No - the reading performance gets on my nerves

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Sadly, Shermer is not an actor. His pronunciation and reading performance is unskillful at best, and annoying most of the times. If you try to spice up the narrative with "old english" quotes, you should probably rehearse a bit before the take.The sassy music-bits at the beginning, and at the end of chapters are just sad.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

First time the music cued into the narrative was a "WTF moment" followed by a good, if somewhat unkind, laugh

Any additional comments?

Loose the music and the narrator, and you have a very interesting book

Great read on how the brain can form patterns

loved Shermer's take on the believing brain and how its tendency to form patterns that might not be there!

Awesome resource.

This book is a wealth of information concerning how our brains work. I've enjoyed every moment (even the tedious and somewhat unnecessary chapter about the author's own libertarianism) and learned a lot. Highly recommended!

Engaging Exploration of Belief, but Lacks Depth in Certain Areas

Michael Shermer's "The Believing Brain" provides a compelling exploration of the cognitive and neurological mechanisms behind our beliefs. His insights into why people hold onto "weird and untrue things" are fascinating and thought-provoking. However, for readers seeking a more comprehensive examination of the subject, the book might feel somewhat limited in scope.

**Here's what I liked:**

* **Engaging writing style:** Shermer's clear and accessible writing makes complex topics easy to understand, even for readers unfamiliar with scientific concepts.
* **Fascinating examples:** The book uses real-world examples of strange beliefs to illustrate the underlying psychological and neurological processes at play.
* **Focus on cognitive science:** Shermer's strength lies in his ability to explain belief formation and maintenance through a scientific lens.

**However, I found:**

* **Limited scope:** The book primarily focuses on the individual's internal processes, neglecting broader social and cultural influences on belief systems.
* **Lack of depth:** While interesting, some topics feel under-explored, leaving the reader wanting more nuanced analysis and discussion.

Author should not read his own work

The information in this book is interesting -- bu the author should not read his own work -- he is terrible. Reads in a dull monotone and does not impart any life to the material...