Superstition : belief in the age of science /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Park, Robert L.
Edition:1st ed.
Imprint:Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2008.
Description:1 online resource ([vii], 215, [xv] pages)
Language:English
Subject:Religion and science.
Religion and sociology.
Belief and doubt.
RELIGION -- General.
RELIGION -- Ethics.
Belief and doubt.
Religion and science.
Religion and sociology.
Electronic books.
Electronic books.
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11213183
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9781400828777
1400828775
9780691133553
0691133557
9780691145976
0691145970
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-219 and index.
Print version record.
Summary:"From uttering a prayer before boarding a plane, to exploring past lives through hypnosis, has superstition become pervasive in contemporary culture? Robert Park, the best-selling author of Voodoo Science, argues that it has. In Superstition, Park asks why people persist in superstitious convictions long after science has shown them to be ill-founded. He takes on supernatural beliefs from religion and the afterlife to New Age spiritualism and faith-based medical claims. He examines recent controversies and concludes that science is the only way we have of understanding the world. Park sides with the forces of reason in a world of continuing and, he fears, increasing superstition. Chapter by chapter, he explains how people too easily mistake pseudoscience for science. He discusses parapsychology, homeopathy, and acupuncture; he questions the existence of souls, the foundations of intelligent design, and the power of prayer; he asks for evidence of reincarnation and astral projections; and he challenges the idea of heaven. Throughout, he demonstrates how people's blind faith, and their confidence in suspect phenomena and remedies, are manipulated for political ends. Park shows that science prevails when people stop fooling themselves. Compelling and precise, Superstition takes no hostages in its quest to provoke. In shedding light on some very sensitive - and Park would say scientifically dubious - issues, the book is sure to spark discussion and controversy"--Provided by publisher.
Other form:Print version: Park, Robert L. Superstition. 1st ed. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2008 9780691145976

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