Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality, and Truth

by Andrew Newberg

164 Members ½ (3.50)

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Do you remember events differently from how they really happened? Where do your superstitions come from? How do morals evolve? Why are some people religious and others nonreligious? Everyone has thoughts and questions like these, and now psychologists Newberg and Waldman show, for the first time, how our complex views emerge from the neural activities of the brain. Bridging science, psychology, and religion, they demonstrate, in simple terminology, how the brain perceives reality and show more transforms it into an extraordinary range of personal, ethical, and creative premises that we use to build meaning, value, spirituality, and truth into our lives. Supported by groundbreaking research, including brain scans of people as they pray, meditate, and even speak in tongues, Newberg and Waldman propose a new model for how deep convictions emerge and influence our lives. Using personal stories, moral paradoxes, and optical illusions, the authors demonstrate how our brains construct our fondest assumptions about reality.--From publisher description. show less

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Andrew Newberg
22+ Works 1,750 Members
Andrew Newberg is director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a physician at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. His books include Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief (2001), How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist (2009), and Principles of show more Neurotheology (2010). show less

Classifications

Genres
Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, General Nonfiction, Philosophy
DDC/MDS
153.4 — Philosophy and Psychology Psychology Conscious mental processes and intelligence Thought, thinking, reasoning, intuition, value, judgment
LCC
BL53 .N49 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Religions. Mythology. Rationalism Religions. Mythology. Rationalism Philosophy of religion. Psychology of religion. Religion
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164
Popularity
199,026
Rating
½ (3.50)
Languages
English
Media
Paper
ISBNs
2
ASINs
1