Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief

"Marvelously funny and provocative."—Publishers Weekly

Why do 70 percent of Americans believe in angels, while others are convinced that they were abducted by aliens? What makes people believe in improbable things when all the evidence points to the contrary? And don't almost all of us, at some time or another, engage in magical thinking? In Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast, evolutionary biologist Lewis Wolpert delves into the important and timely debate over the nature of belief, looking at its psychological foundations to discover just what evolutionary purpose it could serve. Wolpert takes us through all that science can tell us about the beliefs we feel are instinctive. He deftly explores different types of belief—those of children, of the religious, and of those suffering from psychiatric disorders—and he asks whether it is possible to live without belief, or whether it is a necessary component of a functioning society.

ISBN-13: 9780393332032

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Norton - W. W. & Company - Inc.

Publication Date: 07-17-2008

Pages: 256

Product Dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

Lewis Wolpert (1929—2021) was Professor Emeritus of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College, London. His books include Six Impossible Things before Breakfast, How We Live and Why We Die, and Malignant Sadness, the basis for a BBC television series.

Table of Contents

Introduction     ix
Everyday     3
Belief     23
Children     35
Animals     51
Tools     69
Believing     83
False     97
Religion     117
Paranormal beliefs     139
Health     161
Moral     187
Science     201
Believable?     217
References     221
Index     231 Show More