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)

A closed mind can’t imagine other than what it knows.

His writing felt to me as a defense of science and many of the responses lended towards a leadership style of Alfa male which is to debunk anything that doesn’t agree with his specialized mind set. His knowledge is great and useful but and it will be helpful in questioning my own reactions to my chemical reactions.

Thanks Dr. Shermer….going UNABRIDGED!!

For those unfamiliar with Dr. Shermer, his work regarding the science behind skepticism…this book would be a perfect emersion into the world of “belief”. For his fans, as mentioned in the prologue, a culmination of some 30 years of study in this area…to be honest, I am getting a hard copy to reference…not to discourage, the audio book is great!

This book hits close to home. Once, a blithering member of a militant “Jim Jones” like Christian cult (control, fear, money hording pastor…but no Kool-Aid)…highly recommended as sound therapy. “What was that all about?”…you will learn here. But…the reader doesn’t have to be stained by religious fundamentalism, conspiracies, or other highly emotional dogma…to benefit from Dr. Shermers work. The human belief system is complex, and drives our lives, sometimes against all reason. The Believing Brain sheds light on a difficult subject…very accessible to the layperson…interesting, detailed, and enjoyable!!.....By the way, his narration was great! Works of nonfiction…history, and science…I have always enjoyed the author reading his or her own material. Would love to see other Dr. Shermer books recorded unabridged.

Hello... this is kermit the frog here.

Good book but the Narrator sounds to much like Kermit the frog. Extremely distracting. I will be watching out for books read by him.

Certainly the best book I have listened to thusfar

Any additional comments?

Shermer draws together much of the rationale of why people believe as they do. A real revelation for me in many areas. I'd recommend for any enquiring minds out there.

Should be common sense

In Michael Shermer's point of view, humans form beliefs (from experiences, genetics...) and then selectively filter the data that to support the pre-existing beliefs. He divides the book in 4 parts Part 1- Journeys of Belief; Part 2. The Biology of Belief; Part III. Belief in Things Unseen; and Part IV- Belief in Things Seen.
A good book, but I think it is not for everyone. If you are a believer (in God, ET, conspiracies...) you will get upset.

A well worth it listen

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

Read by the author, it's a mix of fact, personal experience and opinion. Very interesting and a great way to kill time in traffic.

Changes your way of thinking about the world

If you could sum up The Believing Brain in three words, what would they be?

Shermer does a great job of mixing scientific studies and real life examples to get his point across

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

Made me question the way I look at world

Excellent

Increadable new persprective about how and what we perceive, and interpret it.
Listened to it twice.

Great book

As the other reviews say, Michael is a better speaker than reader. He's also really bad at pronunciation. If you can get beyond that (I certainly did), this really is a fantastic book. I certainly hope that this will inspire more people to adopt a skeptical philosophy. Yet, I'm sure there are many who would have a hard time with the book. Namely those who fell asleep in science class and stayed awake in Sunday school. But really, EVERYONE needs to read/listen to this book.

Nice read and helpful look into our belief systems

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

It's right up there with all the others. 4 stars from me, means its a very enjoyable book full of easy to understand information presented in a clear manner.

What about Michael Shermer’s performance did you like?

He reads in his own voice and I enjoyed listening to it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Nope. Too much to take in, especially if one considers the implications of the content.

Any additional comments?

Chapter transitions sucked.