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Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics - as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies.
At the beginning of Nonzero, Robert Wright sets out to "define the arrow of the history of life, from the primordial soup to the World Wide Web." Twenty-two chapters later, after a sweeping and vivid narrative of the human past, he has succeeded and has mounted a powerful challenge to the conventional view that evolution and human history are aimless.
From one of America's greatest minds, a journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness. In Why Buddhism Is True, Wright leads listeners on a journey through psychology, philosophy, and a great many silent retreats to show how and why meditation can serve as the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age.
Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West but worldwide.
This explosive work of history unearths clues that finally demonstrate the truth about one of the world's great religions: that it was born out of the conflict between the Romans and messianic Jews who fought a bitter war with each other during the first century. The Romans employed a tactic they routinely used to conquer and absorb other nations: they grafted their imperial rule onto the religion of the conquered.
Robert Wright's Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment (2017) considers Buddhism through the lens of evolutionary psychology, a discipline that regards natural selection as the provenance of many mental traits. Purchase this in-depth analysis to learn more.
Are men literally born to cheat? Does monogamy actually serve women's interests? These are among the questions that have made The Moral Animal one of the most provocative science books in recent years. Wright unveils the genetic strategies behind everything from our sexual preferences to our office politics - as well as their implications for our moral codes and public policies.
At the beginning of Nonzero, Robert Wright sets out to "define the arrow of the history of life, from the primordial soup to the World Wide Web." Twenty-two chapters later, after a sweeping and vivid narrative of the human past, he has succeeded and has mounted a powerful challenge to the conventional view that evolution and human history are aimless.
From one of America's greatest minds, a journey through psychology, philosophy, and lots of meditation to show how Buddhism holds the key to moral clarity and enduring happiness. In Why Buddhism Is True, Wright leads listeners on a journey through psychology, philosophy, and a great many silent retreats to show how and why meditation can serve as the foundation for a spiritual life in a secular age.
Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and public intellectual Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the gory headlines and prophecies of doom, which play to our psychological biases. Instead, follow the data: Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West but worldwide.
This explosive work of history unearths clues that finally demonstrate the truth about one of the world's great religions: that it was born out of the conflict between the Romans and messianic Jews who fought a bitter war with each other during the first century. The Romans employed a tactic they routinely used to conquer and absorb other nations: they grafted their imperial rule onto the religion of the conquered.
Robert Wright's Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment (2017) considers Buddhism through the lens of evolutionary psychology, a discipline that regards natural selection as the provenance of many mental traits. Purchase this in-depth analysis to learn more.
Some 25 centuries after the Buddha started teaching, his message continues to inspire people across the globe, including those living in predominantly secular societies. What does it mean to adapt religious practices to secular contexts? Stephen Batchelor, an internationally known author and teacher, is committed to a secularized version of the Buddha's teachings. The time has come, he feels, to articulate a coherent, ethical, contemplative, and philosophical vision of Buddhism for our age.
In layered prose and with thoughtful, accessible scholarship, Aslan narrates the history of religion as one long and remarkably cohesive attempt to understand the divine by giving it human traits and emotions. According to Aslan, this innate desire to humanize God is hardwired in our brains, making it a central feature of nearly every religious tradition. As Aslan writes, "Whether we are aware of it or not, and regardless if we are believers or not, what the vast majority of us think about when we think about God is a divine version of ourselves."
What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson's answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research. Humorous, surprising, and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street.
The Strange Order of Things is a pathbreaking investigation into homeostasis, the condition that regulates human physiology within the range that makes possible not only the survival but also the flourishing of life. Antonio Damasio makes clear that we descend biologically, psychologically, and even socially from a long lineage that begins with single living cells; that our minds and cultures are linked by an invisible thread to the ways and means of ancient unicellular life and other primitive life-forms.
In this delightful, acclaimed bestseller, one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists tackles the workings of the human mind. What makes us rational—and why are we so often irrational? How do we see in three dimensions? What makes us happy, afraid, angry, disgusted, or sexually aroused? Why do we fall in love? And how do we grapple with the imponderables of morality, religion, and consciousness?
Why do we do the things we do? More than a decade in the making, this game-changing book is Robert Sapolsky's genre-shattering attempt to answer that question as fully as perhaps only he could, looking at it from every angle. Sapolsky's storytelling concept is delightful, but it also has a powerful intrinsic logic: He starts by looking at the factors that bear on a person's reaction in the precise moment a behavior occurs and then hops back in time from there in stages, ultimately ending up at the deep history of our species and its evolutionary legacy.
A razor-sharp thinker offers a new understanding of our post-truth world and explains the American instinct to believe in make-believe, from the Pilgrims to P. T. Barnum to Disneyland to zealots of every stripe...to Donald Trump. In this sweeping, eloquent history of America, Kurt Andersen demonstrates that what's happening in our country today - this strange, post-factual, "fake news" moment we're all living through - is not something entirely new, but rather the ultimate expression of our national character and path.
It has become the prevalent view among sociologists, historians, and some theistic scientists that religion and science have never been in serious conflict. Some even claim that Christianity was responsible for the development of science. In a sweeping historical survey that begins with ancient Greek science and proceeds through the Renaissance and Enlightenment to contemporary advances in physics and cosmology, Stenger makes a convincing case that not only is this conclusion false, but Christianity actually held back the progress of science for 1,000 years.
In his most ambitious work yet, Shermer sets out to discover what drives humans' belief in life after death, focusing on recent scientific attempts to achieve immortality by radical life extentionists, extropians, transhumanists, cryonicists, and mind uploaders, along with utopians who have attempted to create heaven on earth.
Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt as we work to be bigger, better, smarter, and more in control, is one affliction we all share. In Advice Not Given, Dr. Mark Epstein reveals how Buddhism and Western psychotherapy, two traditions that developed in entirely different times and places and, until recently, had nothing to do with each other, both identify the ego as the limiting factor in our well-being, and both come to the same conclusion: When we give the ego free reign, we suffer; but when it learns to let go, we are free.
Written with the same brilliance and boldness that made Buddhism Without Beliefs a classic in its field, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist is Stephen Batchelor's account of his journey through Buddhism, which culminates in a groundbreaking new portrait of the historical Buddha.
Reason, we are told, is what makes us human, the source of our knowledge and wisdom. If reason is so useful, why didn't it also evolve in other animals? If reason is that reliable, why do we produce so much thoroughly reasoned nonsense? In their groundbreaking account of the evolution and workings of reason, Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber set out to solve this double enigma.
He explains why spirituality has a role today and why science, contrary to conventional wisdom, affirms the validity of the religious quest. And this previously unrecognized evolutionary logic points not toward continued religious extremism but to future harmony. Nearly a decade in the making, The Evolution of God is a breathtaking reexamination of the past and a visionary look forward.
While this audio book isn't likely to change my beliefs one way or the other, it certainly has be thinking. It details, sometime with hard evidence, sometimes with conjecture, the evolution not only of God (or gods), but the evolution of religion. From the views of the hunter-gatherer to modern man, there's a logical progression of man's view of religion, and God/gods that parallels the natural progression of society.
One of the questions this audio book hints at is whether God created man, or man created God. The latter seems the obvious answer after listening to this book. This does not negate the existence of God, but rather puts Him in perspective. Does Him being different than you imagined make Him any less important to you? If so, you probably shouldn't listen to this one, and instead read something that reinforces your beliefs.
30 of 30 people found this review helpful
They're are two different schools of thought about a book like this. One, there was something in this book to offend almost everyone from each of the three Abrahamic religions (Christian, Jew, and Muslim). Or, two, by understanding the historical context and development over time of the major ideas about man's image of God and morality helps the listener better develop his own spiritual growth. Put me down in the second school.
After listening to this book, I'll never look at the bible the same way again. For me, the bible has always been inaccessible since I didn't understand its proper historical context. This book has really motivated me to revisit the bible and subsequently I've started listening to "The Word of Promise", the bible read by actors and with dramatization and so far very listenable (and it only cost one credit!).
The author is gifted at explaining generalities by first looking at specific events. One way of further understanding man's image of God is by first understanding the historical events surrounding the times the religious documents were first written.
The author quotes one of the early religious founders as saying that "God loved man very much by giving him an earth that was suited for man". The author would say that man was suited for earth so well because he evolved into this environment. From that point of view, man's image of God has also changed over time.
One note about the reader. Arthur Morey (the reader) is one of my favorite readers and he's one of the few readers who I would buy the book just because he's the reader. As usual, he doesn't disappoint in his reading and he makes me feel like I'm listening to an old friend.
18 of 18 people found this review helpful
Perhaps better titled "What Man sees though his culture,history and intellect as God." Not what IS or is not God. Never the less well researched with plenty of interesting information. Roberts comes to many conclusions true or not true, but with food for thought.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful
This is a fantastic book. If you find the evolution of religious thought interesting, you will enjoy this publication. Anyone that takes the time to read this offering will understand why religions have been with us throughout history. Although, the author may not see religions in a positive light, he does believe they can help people to learn to live in harmony. Read, learn, and enjoy.
25 of 26 people found this review helpful
This book is not for the casual reader of religious propaganda. Nor, in my opinion, is it for someone who staunchly believes the Torah, Bible, or Koran to be literally true. On the other hand, if one is prepared to listen with an open mind the author has much to intellectually stimulate you. Or to put it differently, if you are willing to concede that your Sunday school teacher didn't exactly tell you the whole story, and even if the theory of evolution appeals to your intellect a lot more than Intelligent Design, you may still not prepared to believe that we are just a fortunate accident of electro-chemical actions in a primordial soup. If so, Robert Wright wrote this book for you.
He begins as other have by systematically destroying the credibility of all 3 Abrahamic religions as the inspired word of a creator God. He details, as others have, the human editing of the message to fit the political and economic needs of the era in which the text was written. Then when other authors end their book with the demotion of God to god --as if no more needed to be said -- he begins a cautious, although compellingly plausible, case for seeing the finger prints of a designer in the development of mankind. Personally, I don't need a teddy bear god to help me sleep at night, but if you are like some of my very intelligent and scientifically literate friends who are just not emotionally prepared to believe that there is no purpose whatsoever in our existence or in the creation of the universe then I highly recommend that you listen to Robert Wright's The Evolution of God. The narration was professional and moved along without delay.
23 of 24 people found this review helpful
Clear thought and opinion, the author steps through the evolution of God and history with remarkable insight. I was worried this might be a "Religious" book, but I was pleasantly surprised with the author's thoughtful treatment of all of the Religion discussed.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful
About two thirds of this book is great. The author starts by describing early forms of superstition and then goes on to give the history of the Abrahamic religions, explaining how they've evolved from ancient forms of religion into what they are today, and speculating about what may have motivated each change. I found this very enjoyable to listen to and if this was the whole book I would have given it five stars.
It stumbles for me in the other third of the book, where the author gets into what he believes are the theological implications of the history that he describes in the more interesting parts of the book. It becomes clear that the true purpose of this book is not to be a history book, instead it is about promoting the author's theology. Some might find this just as interesting as the rest of the book if they're inclined to agree with it. The problem for me is that it's entirely based on the idea that human civilization's moral progress of the last few thousand years is hard evidence that the universe has some sort of divine purpose. If, like me, you don't buy into this premise then everything that follows is pretty much worthless and quite a chore to get through.
Although if you agree with the author's theology, or are able to work your way through it, (or just fast forward to the good bits) the majority of the book is a worthwhile listen.
11 of 12 people found this review helpful
This book is a must read for anyone seeking the elusive realm of God. It is both abstract and concrete in it's exploration of man and his religious and spiritual quest. I have listened to it several times and will continue to go back to it as it is a pleasure to listen to the narration by Arthur Morey, and for the clear, well researched and well written information that Robert Wright has so wonderfully given us. Thank you Robert Wright for such a great work!
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
It certainly was for me. It is so important to understand the origins of cultural and social elements of our lives. This book should be required reading for every adult human being. It is so thoroughly informative that I intend to immediately listen again and study it like a college course. get it. If you regret reading it will probably be for the right reasons. truth can sometimes be hard to accept.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
The evolution of God is probably one of the most interesting books that I have ever listened to. The author describes different gods that have been believed through human history everywhere from the acient Polytheistic religions of Babylon, to the development of the ancient Jewish monotheistic God, and through how the idea of that God has changed throughout the centuries. The book is western God heavy, and does not really jump into the ideas and concepts of god that exist in eastern religions. In other words this is really a history of the Abrahamic god. The main narrative of this book is that the concept of God has changed and evolved throughout the centuries with the implication that this concept of God has gotten closer and closer to the actual God. Personally, i do not think that he is presenting an Atheistic view of God, but perhaps a view that many theists do not have. If this book makes you question your concept of what God is, then perhaps the concept that you had of God was very incorrect... And really what is the likely hood that you ever had a very strong concept of what God is in the first place? Perhaps that cocksure knowledge of God, was really all a long a cover for ignorance? I am sure that many dissertations could be made made on this topic, however this is not a dissertation. This is a book that is meant for a wider audience and therefor is not necessarily to the same standard that an academic paper would. However, I do not think that just because this book is meant for a wider audience means that it doesnt have some profound things to say. I think that this theory should be expanded on further.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful