Believing: The Neuroscience of Fantasies, Fears, and Convictions
“A superb scientist, McGuire has mastered understanding how body and brain interact. He shines a clarifying light on the puzzling and even infuriating issue of why countless people believe the strange, often-dangerous things they do. From marketing soft drinks to managing genocidal wars, the brain and its beliefs remain central.Believingwill clarify how and why. It may even protect you.”—Lionel Tiger, Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology (emeritus), Rutgers University“Through analyses of the current neuroscience and numerous anecdotes...McGuire unpacks his topic in a consistently accessible and intriguing manner, and offers up some interesting conclusions.”—Publishers Weekly “From Christianity’s Jesus to Islam’s jihad, and from the conservative American Tea Party to the liberal MoveOn.org, what we believe with strong conviction biases our behavior in powerful and predictable ways. Written in an easy-to-understand, conversational style,Believingexplains how this occurs. InOn Human Nature, E. O. Wilson made the provocative statement, ‘Men, it appears, would rather believe than know.’ Now, almost forty years later, utilizing all the modern advances in neuroscience, Michael McGuire can explain why and, most importantly, how. An important book for any believer who now wants to know.”—Jay R. Feierman, editor and contributor,The Biology of Religious Behavior: The Evolutionary Origins of Faith and Religion“Beliefs define who we are, organize our lives, influence our actions and affiliations, and pervade all human experience. What are these beliefs? How did they evolve, and how do they arise? What do they do, and how do they work? McGuire asks these fundamental questions and seeks answers in new findings from neuroscience and human evolution. He looks closely at ‘divides’ between beliefs’ content and evidence as well as at intransigent beliefs that persist despite disconfirming evidence and destructive effects. He asks what to do about the latter. This book is a must-read for those who want to better understand and deal with the core dilemmas of human living.”—John O. Beahrs, MD, professor emeritus of psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University