Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shirmer
The book gives a brief introduction into the evolution of thought and offers a skeptical view of claims of people divining water, faith healing and other claimed phenomenon. The author explains how people come to develop beliefs through the strong power of association. The associations happen without proof of cause and effect. The ability to develop associations has helped the species survive by using anecdotal information to help make decisions. For example: I ate this plant and a half a day later I feel sick. I will avoid eating this plant in the future. There may or may not have been another cause for the sickness but in the absence of a team of neolithic epidemiologists using the scientific method, a large sample size and sophisticated statistical analysis of the ill and dying it served its purpose for species survival. This book does challenge some established religious beliefs.
The Book, Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time
is available from Amazon. com
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