GREAT BOOK ! May free your JW loved ones.

by wobble 12 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  wobble

  I have just finished reading a great book entitled "Believing Bullshit" by Stephen Law, published by Prometheus Books of N.Y

  www.prometheusbooks.com

  In it the author outlines how we come to believe total claptrap most often because of the dubious methods used by the promoters of these ideas.

  He does not set out to debunk the ideas themselves as the main purpose of the book, though in passing he has to do so with some .like Alien abductions, Christian Science and Homeopathy etc. his main purpose is to expose the methods used to get people to believe,,and how even if the idea being put forward may be good, or a truth, to use such methods is not justified, and leads one open to being sucked in to an intellectual black hole if you are duped by them.

  If this book is read by an active, believing JW they will not smell any rats, but by the end of it, if they are honest with themselves they will see the methods used by the WT as totally dishonest and reminiscent of snake-oil salesmen.

  It may just free their minds enough.

  I cannot praise it too highly, it is a valuable read for anybody, and shows why even college educated, intelligent people can be fooled by BS.
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  dgp

  Bookmarked for later.
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  VM44

  

  http://www.amazon.com/Believing-Bullshit-Sucked-Intellectual-Black/dp/1616144114

  Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole

  By Stephen Law

  “A primer not only on how not to believe but also on why so many people do believe bullshit, despite the lack of evidence for such beliefs, or even in the face of disconfirmatory evidence. Believing Bullshit should be read by every college freshman and every person seeking public office, and its strategies memorized and put to use by every critical thinker.”

  D. J. GROTHE
  President of the James Randi Educational Foundation

  “Sadly, the people who would benefit most from Believing Bullshit are the least likely to read it. We all get taken in by bullshit sometimes, though, and if you think you don’t, you definitely should buy this book. But you should anyway.”

  NIGEL WARBURTON
  Senior lecturer in philosophy, the Open University, United Kingdom

  Members of the Heaven’s Gate suicide cult believed they were taking a ride to heaven aboard a UFO. Muslim suicide bombers expect to be greeted after death by seventy-two heavenly virgins. Significant numbers of people believe that aliens built the pyramids, that the Holocaust never happened, and that the World Trade Center was brought down by the US government.

  Like the black holes of outer space—from which nothing can escape—our cultural landscape is riddled with intellectual black holes. Philosopher Stephen Law suggests these self-sealing bubbles of belief can trap even the most intelligent of us, and that some of the world’s greatest thinkers have been sucked in, never to escape. With a witty, insightful critique, Law identifies eight key mechanisms that can transform a set of ideas into a psychological flytrap. He discusses the dangers black holes can pose, exploring scientific reason, religion, relativism, brainwashing, button pushing, bias and presupposition, and the power of anecdote, among others.

  With clear and honest critique, Believing Bullshit helps immunize us against the wiles of cultists, religious and political zealots, conspiracy theorists, promoters of flaky alternative medicines, and proponents of other crackpot theories by setting out the tricks of the trade by which such insidious belief systems are created and maintained.

  Binding: Paperback
  Pages: 271

  ISBN: 978-1-61614-411-1
  Shipping Weight: 1lbs

  AUTHOR BIO

  Stephen Law is a senior lecturer in philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London; provost for the Centre for Inquiry; and editor of Think: Philosophy for Everyone. He is the author of numerous books for adults and for children, including The Greatest Philosophers, The Philosophy Gym, The War for Children’s Minds, and Really, Really Big Questions, among others.
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  LV101

  thanks!!! just ordered and a simplified version should be required reading for elementary schools.
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  Iamallcool

  (bookmarking)
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  St George of England

  thanks!!! just ordered and a simplified version should be required reading for elementary schools kingdom halls

  George
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  blondie

  “Sadly, the people who would benefit most from Believing Bullshit are the least likely to read it. We all get taken in by bullshit sometimes, though, and if you think you don’t, you definitely should buy this book. But you should anyway.”

  NIGEL WARBURTON
  Senior lecturer in philosophy, the Open University, United Kingdom
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  wobble

  Thanks for your comments, I do believe this is a book that you could get an active JW to read without them knowing what you are about, handing them Hassan's "Combatting Cult Mind Control" is a bit obvious, this one isn't.

  It should be required reading for all.

  But especially for those whose whole belief system is bullshit.
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  Tuesday

  They won't read it because of the title. This seems like a good book though.
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  wobble

  i thought that too Tuesday, I wondered if the American version would have to use asterisks instead of spelling the word ! you know how the Yanks can't say "S**T !" in public.

  Just present it as a"jokey" title, and try to get them to read it.

  To kick start a JW's brain in to examining their beliefs properly is an almost impossible thing to do, but this book, with no mention of Dubs or much about cults, may just do it.