• God - the Failed Hypothesis

  • How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist
  • By: Victor J. Stenger
  • Narrated by: David Smalley
  • Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (235 ratings)

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God - the Failed Hypothesis  By  cover art

God - the Failed Hypothesis

By: Victor J. Stenger
Narrated by: David Smalley
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Publisher's summary

Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology, while science has sat on the sidelines. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our understanding of the world, somehow the notion has arisen that it has nothing to say about the possibility of a supreme being, which much of humanity worships as the source of all reality. This book contends that, if God exists, some evidence for this existence should be detectable by scientific means, especially considering the central role that God is alleged to play in the operation of the universe and the lives of humans.

Treating the traditional God concept, as conventionally presented in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, like any other scientific hypothesis, physicist Stenger examines all of the claims made for God's existence. He considers the latest Intelligent Design arguments as evidence of God's influence in biology. He looks at human behavior for evidence of immaterial souls and the possible effects of prayer. He discusses the findings of physics and astronomy in weighing the suggestions that the universe is the work of a creator and that humans are God's special creation. After evaluating all the scientific evidence, Stenger concludes that beyond a reasonable doubt the universe and life appear exactly as we might expect if there were no God.

©2007 Victor J. Stenger (P)2016 Pitchstone Publishing

What listeners say about God - the Failed Hypothesis

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  • 12-28-16

Can't get enuf scientific facts!

I love reading books that show science in its true light and glory- our only method of discovering anything for real! (Or until we find new evidence to real it up a little closer)
I can't get enuf and loved this book!

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Decent Book. Failed Performance.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. There are better books on the topic and the narration of this edition is distractingly bad.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

N/A.

Would you be willing to try another one of David Smalley’s performances?

No. The least this guy (or his producer) could have done is research basic pronunciations. The reading is so distractingly bad as to spoil what is otherwise a competent volume.

Was God - the Failed Hypothesis worth the listening time?

It's essential reading in this field and therefore worth the listen. The performance of the book did nothing for me other than make it so that I could absorb the book while driving.

Any additional comments?

Many of us have waited hopefully for Stenger's volumes to come to audiobook form. I'm guessing that the publisher knew this and rushed the book to audio form. The performance and execution shows it. Stenger is dead. His books probably had/have exactly one shot at audiobook form. It's really disappointing that this is the result of that one shot.

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8 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well written

I've heard several of these arguments before but there are still additional hypothesis that add to the scientific response to theism. I also applaud the insistence that science does have something to say about God. I've always found it incredibly foolish (and hypocritical) for theistic elements to stomp on science with their money, politics and dictatorial fear mongering but then insist on seperation from scientific fact when those facts disprove their own authority and do so calmly and with a decorum the religious seem to lack. Stenger insists that the nature of the God Hypothesis means it CAN be disproven with science and he does so beautifully.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars

How do you mess up a simple reading THIS BADLY?!

I'm not a professional reader, nor do I claim to be one on TV. However, I could've read this book UNDERWATER, with clothespins clamped to my tongue, and given a better reading than this!!!

It's one of the worst performances of A GREAT BOOK that I've ever come across on Audible. I honestly hate the fact that I'm leaving this review, because the book itself is DEFINITELY worth your time, but I feel like the only way that these authors and/or publishers are ever going to get serious about hiring high-quality readers is IF they see enough of these honest critiques.

Sadly, this audiobook could've gone down as one of the all time best on this particular subject, however the narrator had other ideas...

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6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good read, poor reader

The content is interesting if not original. There are many other works by and in favor of atheists and atheism that make the case as well or better. Personally, I prefer Dawkins and Hitchens but to each their own. What is maddening about the audio version is the often horrible mispronounciations of words like automaton (pronounced herein as "otto-may-ton") and Empedocles ("imp-a-do-clees"). How it passed any quality inspection still puzzles me.

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Stenger makes a solid case, but narration is weak.

This is the first Audible book I've had to stop listening to due to ear fatigue. It seems to have been recorded with too much emphasis in the low-mid frequencies. I do all my listening on earbuds, and have never had this problem. But it sounds muffled and bottom heavy. Couple that with a lackluster narration, and I just had to stop. Good book though.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good book bad oral presentation.

The text was great, but I struggled to finish the book. The author had great ideas but the man reading the book sounds like he's describing an avengers movie trailer. Great book and ideas but please choose a better person to read the book.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Scientific method for the win!

A great narration by David Smalley of an excellent book! Stenger's methodical approach brings a fresh perspective and intellectual honesty to a sensitive subject. Scientists have proven boundlessly creative in finding ways to test and blind the seemingly untestable, and it is pleasure to see these techniques applied to the attributes of God-hood.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

An excellent compilation and clear presentation
of the scientific and logical arguments to question the existence of god

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Very Effective

A book that is as adept at showing the evidence absent for the proposition as it is as showing evidence against it. God should be present inevitably and intrinsically, even given its best attempt at remaining concealed. Not only do we not see what we should in a godly universe, we see all that we should if it isn’t godly. Now is a good time to proclaim the God hypothesis dead, or, “God probably doesn’t exist, the Christian God definitely doesn’t exist,” leaving us to ourselves either way. So get on with it.

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