what books are you reading now?

[hollyhjb 0]

Why God Won't Go Away by Andrew Newberg.

It's a look into the biological affect religion has on the human brain (or visa versa). The authors' main hypothesis is that humans are biologically hard-wired to believe in a higher power of some kind. The book is amazing.

I got into it after watching What the 'bleep' do we know, which is a fabulous movie on quantum physics.

"I reject your reality and substitute my own" ~Adam Savage

[skybytch 273]

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I've read about 4 of them but other than "Stranger in a Strange Land" I found them to be very simplisitc, particularly "Red Planet".

Some of Heinlein's books were aimed at children/teenagers, so they are necessarily simplistic (Starship Troopers is another example; good story aimed at younger readers).

Better or worse is subjective; I like all of his stuff but really like the ones I mentioned (in addition to Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Cat who walked through walls, Friday, Job-A comedy of Justice, Beyond This Horizon and Stranger in a Strange Land). I also love his short story collections (Expanded Universe, The Past through Tomorrow). As a general rule I prefer his longer books to his shorter ones.

His politics and views on society shine through in all of his adult fiction, even the stuff he wrote in the 40's and 50's. imho all are worth a read.

[mnealtx 0]

Agreed - Heinlein was a great author, but you definitely have to approach his books with an open mind....

Other authors I like are David Weber (the Honor Harrington books are a great series based on the Hornblower saga), John Ringo (his Posleen books are a good read - think 50's alien movies), Elizabeth Moon (her Paksenarrion series is a great sword & sorcery story).....

Yes, I'm a science fiction / fantasy buff!

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Kris 0]

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I got into it after watching What the 'bleep' do we know, which is a fabulous movie on quantum physics.

That really is an excellent film. I just picked up the DVD last week and I've already watched it twice.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[mnealtx 0]

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I love these threads!

Recently devoured/redevoured -

Dragonriders of Pern series (Anne McCaffery)
The Harry Potter books (is it July yet??)
Richard Bach's Illusions (for the 278th time )
Vampire Chronicles (Anne Rice - for the fifth or sixth time)
Piers Anthony On a Pale Horse - next book purchases will be the rest of the Incarnations of Immortality series.
Robert Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset, Time Enough for Love and The Number of the Beast (just finishing the last one tonight; have read all of them at least five or six times)
The Four Agreements (over and over and over....)
Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet

Coming soon -

USPA's SIM and IRM
One or more guidebooks for hiking in northern California

You're going to love the rest of the Incarnations series!! Like his Xanth books, there's lots of interweaving threads.....

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[markd_nscr986 0]

We have similar tastes in reading!

Marc SCR 6046 SCS 3004

[Shotgun 1]

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Why God Won't Go Away by Andrew Newberg.

It's a look into the biological affect religion has on the human brain (or visa versa). The authors' main hypothesis is that humans are biologically hard-wired to believe in a higher power of some kind. The book is amazing.

I just looked that up on Amazon. It sounds interesting, though the Amazon readers didn't give it very good reviews (not that that always means anything). I think I'll add that to my list of books to read. (Hmm, I need to make more time for reading, because that list is getting too long to keep up with! And I read slow.......)

You might like one of the books I'm reading right now, which I mentioned earlier in this thread... It's called "The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul" by Francis Crick. The title isn't really fitting because he's not so much searching for the soul but rather setting out to prove that no such thing exists. I'm not very far into it yet, so I can't say how good it is, but it's interesting so far. His "amazing hypothesis" is that we are nothing more than a complex collection of neurons... and he spends a little too much time going on about how "amazing" his hypothesis is (as if no one else would have ever had this same thought), but other than that I think he offers a lot of insight into how the brains works (mostly focusing on the neurobiology of vision). But of course, this book was published in 1994 so there are probably better books on the subject now. I was interested in this one mostly because I wanted to hear what Crick had to say on the subject.

[climbnjump 0]

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... It's called "The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientific Search for the Soul" by Francis Crick. The title isn't really fitting because he's not so much searching for the soul but rather setting out to prove that no such thing exists. I'm not very far into it yet, so I can't say how good it is, but it's interesting so far. His "amazing hypothesis" is that we are nothing more than a complex collection of neurons...

Crick was a "materialist". Basically a materialist believes that the mind and the brain are essentially the same thing - they cannot be separate. The opposing view is that of "duality". Dualists believe that while the mind does "depend" on the brain for physical expression, the mind and the brain are actually independent entities that interact using the principles of quantum physics. Materialism has long been the dominant scientific viewpoint, however dualism is more recently gaining momentum. The advent of fMRI has made possible the exploration of the concept that the mind can actually cause physical changes to take place in the brain. The dualists believe that this would prove their theory to be the correct one.

(The existence - or not - of a "soul" is actually separate from the mind/brain question although Crick lumped them together. Most neuoscientists avoid exploring the issue of soul - at least publicly - for fear of getting caught up in a religious, rather than scientific, debate.)

If, after reading Crick's book, you'd like to explore the dualist viewpoint, a good start would be The Mind and the Brain - Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force by Schwartz and Begley.

[hollyhjb 0]

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Why God Won't Go Away by Andrew Newberg.

It's a look into the biological affect religion has on the human brain (or visa versa). The authors' main hypothesis is that humans are biologically hard-wired to believe in a higher power of some kind. The book is amazing.

I just looked that up on Amazon. It sounds interesting, though the Amazon readers didn't give it very good reviews (not that that always means anything).

I'm finding it really interesting (so far). It gives a great background of the work and experiments used to test the hypothesis. In fact the first half of the book is simply a basic explanation of the science behind the experiments and why they were used in testing this hypothesis, as well as basic biology of the brain and which areas are active in religious experiences.

There is also a summary of duality and the difference/sameness of the brain and the mind.

I'm about halfway through it, and I love it because I simply feel educated reading it. I had never thought about some of the concepts put forth in the introduction, but then I was quite familiar with the functions of the different areas of the brain.

Starting the chapter on myth-making tonight. Should be good!

"I reject your reality and substitute my own" ~Adam Savage

[Avion 0]

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I love these threads!

Recently devoured/redevoured -

Dragonriders of Pern series (Anne McCaffery)
The Harry Potter books (is it July yet??)
Richard Bach's Illusions (for the 278th time )
Vampire Chronicles (Anne Rice - for the fifth or sixth time)
Piers Anthony On a Pale Horse - next book purchases will be the rest of the Incarnations of Immortality series.
Robert Heinlein's To Sail Beyond the Sunset, Time Enough for Love and The Number of the Beast (just finishing the last one tonight; have read all of them at least five or six times)
The Four Agreements (over and over and over....)
Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet

Coming soon -

USPA's SIM and IRM
One or more guidebooks for hiking in northern California

Hmm... If like these books, you'd probably like some I've read long ago.

Robert Heinlein, Orphans in Space
Larry Niven, Mote in God's Eye
Robert Silverberg, Not Without Socery

I have Heinlein's, Friday, I just have yet to get around to reading it.

BTW Have you read the classics?

Bram Stoker's, Dracula
Mary Shelly's, Frankenstein

They are much better than any movie can encompass.

[LilZilla 2]

Mainly aircraft T.O.s but in my spare time A Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind.

[SmoothAl 0]

Wow... I must be the only "geek"...I've got the "Beginning Active Server Pages 3.0" by WROX and a PHP/MySQL/Apache/Web Development book... I just finished up my 2nd degree, this one in I.T. and I'm just trying to gain the knowledge schooling didn't teach me thoroughly, so I can find a job. My girl's been reading the Da Vinci Code and keeping my up to date with it...interesting stuff.

SmoothAl

[Shotgun 1]

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If, after reading Crick's book, you'd like to explore the dualist viewpoint, a good start would be The Mind and the Brain - Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force by Schwartz and Begley.

Thanks, I'll probably check that out (eventually!)... I guess, by the definitions you put forth, I am a "materialist"... I do believe that the brain and the mind are the same thing. And I believe that the brain itself can cause physical changes to take place within the brain... which sort of matches up with the "dualist" way of thinking... except that I still think that the brain and the mind are pretty much one and the same. (The "mind" just seems to be that "conscious-thought" part of the brain.)

[wartload 0]

The Borderlands of Science - Michael Shermer

Even before you get into Shermer's examples, the groundwork that he sets for rational thinking is brilliant.

[boinky 0]

I was recently introduced to Heinlein, so I am determined to read everything I can get by him.

I just finished "Stranger In A Strange Land." It started great, got a little weird in the middle and dug out at the end. Overall enjoyable, though.

I am in the process of reading "Time For The Stars." I really like it. It's very personable.

I have "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" sitting on my desk, waiting patiently for me.

I have also read "Puppet Masters," "Waldo," and "Magic, Inc."

I WANT to read Starship Troopers, but seem to be having some difficulty acquiring a copy. I don't want to buy right now, but have had several offers of loaners, if they can ever rustle them up.

For those of you who have read some of my other posts, you'll know that I play poker on a regular basis. You would be amused by all the shocked comments I get from guys there when they find out that I am not just a "bit of fluff" and actually "read something besides romance novels."

Nina

Are we called "DAWGs" because we stick our noses up people's butts? (RIP Buzz)
Yep, you're a postwhore-billyvance

[derivative 0]

I just finished reading The Hitchiker's Guide and I'm almost finished with The Princess Bride. Next on deck:

A World Without Time - Palle Yourgrau (need to finish)
Where Mathematics Comes From - George Lakoff and Rafael Nunez
Big Bang - Simon Signh
A Tour Through Mathematical Logic - Robert S. Wolf
A People' History of The United States - Howard Zinn

And to come up for air once in a while:

The Great Shark Hunt - Hunter S. Thompson

...the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible.
- T.E. Lawrence

[swedishcelt 0]

I just reread "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" myself before seeing the movie today.

I also reread "Bohemian Manifesto", and was given "Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts", "Weird Like Us" and some other titles by a friend. Good stuff.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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what you got beside the bed or easy chair you're reading? gimme some ideas...

Right now open on the nightstand -

Bucky Katts Big Book of Fun

OMG I have to get that! Our newspaper has had Get Fuzzy for only a short time, and I love it! Bucky Katt is one of the funniest characters ever in a comic.
I've started a few books lately that I have not gotten myself to finish. I never find the time to read, these days. (I probably should work at pissing away less time on the internet, but it's addictive!)

I have paused in reading:
Earth Abides
The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
my Jeppeson pilot's manual
Rod Machado's Private Pilot Handbook (which I haven't started yet but I know is a good one)
The Parachute and Its Pilot (by Brian Germain)

I need to get my reading discipline squared away.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[dropdeded 0]

Almost done with HS Thompsons "The Great Shark Hunt" Oh, then theres that Anatomy book thing.

dropdeded

------------------------------------------
The Dude Abides.
-

[payback462 0]

Anything by Tom Brown, Jr.
right now im reading his book called The Vision
lots of different nature, and field guides, mostly Peterson's

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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If, after reading Crick's book, you'd like to explore the dualist viewpoint, a good start would be The Mind and the Brain - Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force by Schwartz and Begley.

Thanks, I'll probably check that out (eventually!)... I guess, by the definitions you put forth, I am a "materialist"... I do believe that the brain and the mind are the same thing. And I believe that the brain itself can cause physical changes to take place within the brain... which sort of matches up with the "dualist" way of thinking... except that I still think that the brain and the mind are pretty much one and the same. (The "mind" just seems to be that "conscious-thought" part of the brain.)

I tend to believe this "materialist" hypothesis too (though I have really not read up on or studied the subject, just contemplated it), but I also would love to find cause to believe that I am a "soul," and not just a conglomeration of matter that will be inert upon my death.

This could get really philosophical.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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I was recently introduced to Heinlein, so I am determined to read everything I can get by him.

I just finished "Stranger In A Strange Land." It started great, got a little weird in the middle and dug out at the end. Overall enjoyable, though.

I am in the process of reading "Time For The Stars." I really like it. It's very personable.

I have "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" sitting on my desk, waiting patiently for me.

I have also read "Puppet Masters," "Waldo," and "Magic, Inc."

I WANT to read Starship Troopers, but seem to be having some difficulty acquiring a copy. I don't want to buy right now, but have had several offers of loaners, if they can ever rustle them up.

For those of you who have read some of my other posts, you'll know that I play poker on a regular basis. You would be amused by all the shocked comments I get from guys there when they find out that I am not just a "bit of fluff" and actually "read something besides romance novels."

Did you find yourself thinking how much that told you about the guys? I can't get around that -- it says a lot about them and their mindset/expectations, that they wrote you off as a "bit of fluff" because you are a woman, until demonstrated otherwise.

I myself have a lot of Heinlein to read. I've done Starship Troopers and The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress (the latter was GREAT!) but I love his politics as I have begun to be acquainted with them, and I am eager to know more.

I have a copy, by chance, of his correspondence or essays or something that were published by his wife posthumously. I have not begun to read it, though. I suppose it might be a mix of boring and interesting. We'll see (eventually, and if I live that long)

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[antifnsocial 0]

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I just reread "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" myself before seeing the movie today.

I also reread "Bohemian Manifesto", and was given "Bohemians: The Glamorous Outcasts", "Weird Like Us" and some other titles by a friend. Good stuff.

I read Bohemian Manifesto!! I will have to check out the rest.

Please feel free to reply to my posts and pm's, but only if you're smart enough to understand what they really mean.

[indyz 1]

Recently:
- I tried to read Jared Diamond's "The Third Chimpanzee" but I just couldn't stand it. I've heard "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and his new one are better, so I'll try those when I have a chance.
- "Full House", Stephen Jay Gould. Excellent book about why increasing complexity does not necessarily represent evolutionary progress and why nobody bats .400 anymore.
- "Compass", Alan Gurney. About the evolution of the marine compass.
- "Hamlet", Shakespeare. I hadn't read Shakespeare since my freshman year of high school. I finally sat down with a good annotated copy of Hamlet and really enjoyed it.

Currently:
- "The Deceivers", Thaddeus Holt. All about Allied deception campaigns in WWII. Very well researched. It's interesting and extremely thorough but really f'ing long (1200 pages). It's one of those books that are tedious to read straight through but would enjoyable to read a chapter or two at a time in between other books. Since I got it from the library, I doubt I'll finish it.

Up next:
I use my Amazon wishlist to keep track of the books that I want to read.

[climbnjump 0]

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If, after reading Crick's book, you'd like to explore the dualist viewpoint, a good start would be The Mind and the Brain - Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force by Schwartz and Begley.

Thanks, I'll probably check that out (eventually!)... I guess, by the definitions you put forth, I am a "materialist"... I do believe that the brain and the mind are the same thing. And I believe that the brain itself can cause physical changes to take place within the brain... which sort of matches up with the "dualist" way of thinking... except that I still think that the brain and the mind are pretty much one and the same. (The "mind" just seems to be that "conscious-thought" part of the brain.)

There is then the definition of brain. That stuff contained by our skulls is sometimes defined as three brains. The first is the reptilian brain or brain stem. The second brain is the limbic or emotional brain and the third is the cortex. The "conscious-thought" processes take place in the cortex.

Every wonder why we do things that we "know" are bad or wrong? The "knowing" part of our brain, the cortex, is overridden by either the emotional or reptilian brain. It takes focused attention from the cortex to keep the limbic or reptilian brain from overriding the cortex. It's no secret that effective marketing takes advantage of the fact that the reptilian and limbic can override the cortex, e.g. http://www.brand.com/NeuroBranding.htm

But it gets even more complicated. For some, the three "brains" are defined differently - the three being, basically head, heart and gut. There are about 100 million neurons - similar to those found in your head - in your gut. (So maybe that phrase - go with your gut - just means you are deciding with one of your alternate brains.) The heart gets the short end of the stick with only about 40,000 nerve cells called baroreceptors. Yet the heart is functional before the development of either the central nervous system or the thinking brain. And both the heart and digestive system will continue to function in a completely brain dead body as long as there is a mechanical ventilator keeping the lungs going.

Any way you slice it, we're a pretty amazing piece of engineering! (...and I think I've wandered way off the original purpose of this thread.)