The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures - Softcover

Wade, Nicholas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143118196 ISBN 13: 9780143118190

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2010

Synopsis

A New York Times science reporter makes a startling new case that religion has an evolutionary basis.

For the last 50,000 years, and probably much longer, people have practiced religion. Yet little attention has been given to the question of whether this universal human behavior might have been implanted in human nature. In this original and thought-provoking work, Nicholas Wade traces how religion grew to be so essential to early societies in their struggle for survival, how an instinct for faith became hardwired into human nature, and how it provided an impetus for law and government. The Faith Instinct offers an objective and nonpolemical exploration of humanity's quest for spiritual transcendence.

About this title

About the Author

Nicholas Wade received a BA in natural sciences from King’s College, Cambridge. He was the deputy editor of Nature magazine in London and then became that journal’s Washington correspondent. He joined Science magazine in Washington as a reporter and later moved to The New York Times, where he has been an editorial writer, concentrating on issues of defense, space, science, medicine, technology, genetics, molecular biology, the environment, and public policy, a science reporter, and a science editor.

From AudioFile

Are we predisposed to believe in the supernatural? Do we have a genetic inclination to bond with fellow humans who share these beliefs? Nicholas Wade seems to think so, and he offers some interesting ideas to explain why humans are hardwired to believe in deities--and why that's a genetic requirement for long-term survival as a species. As Wade explains, the concept of god saves us from self-induced anarchy; gods reward us for striving beyond our personal gratification and shame us for succumbing to it. Alan Sklar glides through this stimulating work with an evenhanded tone that will appeal to deists, theists, monotheists, and atheists alike. The best thing about Sklar's read: His sense of wonder and curiosity is contagious. R.W.S. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0143118196
• ISBN 13: 9780143118190
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320