The Believing Brain: From Spiritual Faiths to Political Convictions – How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truthsby Michael Shermer

This book holds that the brain is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing through the senses the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns and then infuse those patterns with meaning, intention and agency. 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. How is it that people come to believe something that apparently defies reason? The answer is that beliefs come first; reasons for belief follow in confirmation of the realism dependent upon the belief....As a non-believer in anything religious, I have often been perplexed at the naive acceptance of a god concept by supposedly intelligent people. This book explains, scientifically and in depth, the reasons behind ‘blind faith’. It is not bedtime reading and, at times, hard going but a good read for those who are not easily duped and wish to understand the mindset of those who are easily duped ...

 '종교' 또는 '어떤 것을 믿는다'는 것에 대하여 나름 깊게 생각할 수 있는 기회를 제공하는 책이다. 이런저런 '믿음'과 관련된 책들을 읽었지만.... 인상에 남는 저서들 중에 하나다. '믿음'이라는 민감한 내용 때문에 독자들의 개인적 상황에 따라서서 '편견'이라는 두 단어를 피하기에 힘든 작품이지만 개인적으로는 흥미 있게 읽은 책이다. 잘하지는 않지만.... 지인들과 '믿음'에 관한 이야기를 할 때 이 책의 내용을 공유하기도 한다.