The Belief Instinct is a compelling look at the biological origins of such things as belief in God, the afterlife, and divine punishment. Many of these things, the author argues, are due to our evolution of a "theory of mind," which allows us to assume that others think and feel as we do and put our...
Wildly uneven book of essays. Some of them were very good and some of them were amusing. A couple rubbed me the wrong way entirely because they were so personal and Bering assumed that his feelings were universal (f'rinstance, polyamory can't ever work for anyone because Bering gets so jealous he th...
Quite entertaining read, with a mix of speculation and actual study data. I would have liked a little more concrete information, but fun regardless.
The Belief Instinct is pleasurable in that it's wholly unlike books by the sort of atheists who doggedly pursue the conversion of their readers to their way of thinking. Bering is methodical and scientific in building his argument. He's also very personable and quite funny. [full review]
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