Ebook The Heretics Adventures with the Enemies of Science Audible Audio Edition Will Storr Ben Allen Macmillan Digital Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 14 hours and 31 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Macmillan Digital Audio Audible.com Release Date March 7, 2019 Whispersync for Voice Ready Language English, English ASIN B07KB2CW2R

The Heretics Adventures with the Enemies of Science Audible Audio Edition Will Storr Ben Allen Macmillan Digital Audio Books Reviews

• The "enemies of science" alternately distress me, intrigue me, and piss me off, and they should do the same to you. This is a well-written book about a guy with a lot of guts who confronts these idiots/suckers/delusional fools. Later on in the book he finally gets around to a discussion of the psychology involved, and I find it very well written--among the best summaries I've encountered (I'm a retired psych prof). Buy this. Give it to your friends. If you're brave enough, give it to your in-laws (I will refrain... There are certain topics we've agreed to never broach with one another...).
• This is an exceptional book which I cannot recommend highly enough. Will Storr shows himself to be a very talented writer and journalist.
  
  What I particularly liked about this book was Storr's personal courage in having the vulnerability to be completely honest about the questions and uncertainties which filled his own mind in the writing of the volume. This is a rare beast indeed skepticism with self-reflection!
  
  What I also love is that Storr is very, very fair in his appraisal of the people he meets and interviews. He shows himself willing to question his own pre-set assumptions. This is an attitude that many so-called professional skeptics could do well to mimic. As Storr's encounters with several skeptics in the book reveal, many are just as dogmatic and irrational as the "woo" masters they despise.
  
  This becomes particularly clear in a chapter where he digs into the dispute between radical biologist Rupert Sheldrake and professional skeptic Richard Wiseman - over their testing of a "psychic" dog who allegedly knew when its master was coming home despite having no warning about the return times. Although Storr comes to no firm conclusions about Sheldrake's work, Storr is willing to present the cases of both men, including allegations that Wiseman misrepresented his own study to make a positive outcome look negative. Most skeptics would not even bother to give Sheldrake the benefit of the doubt, instantly siding with the skeptic. Storr does not fall into that trap.
  
  Nor does James Randi - when interviewed - come out looking like the irrepressible, hyper-rational genius his fans often portray him to be. But Storr is willing to point out the good Randi has done as well. And this is something many in "alternative" circles typically fail to do. As I said, Storr is very fair.
  
  Storr does not fall short of criticicising - or even ridiculing - various "believers" who seem willing to believe almost anything, irregardless of the evidence to the contrary. Some of his stream-of-consciousness judgments of their deep irrationality make for amusing reading.
  
  Storr concludes that the human mind is a story maker and that it is impossible for us to avoid this - regardless of how "rational" we think we are. We all suffer from cognitive dissonance to some degree. And he is right. Given this the only truly "rational" way to gaze upon the thinking of others is with a gentle appreciation that their distortions are just part of the madness of being human. I suppose the most obvious caveat is in deciding when such thinking is harmful to others - as is the case with David Irving.
  
  If I am pressed to identify any shortcoming of the book, it might be the writer's failure to adequately address the limits of scientific enquiry and rational analysis. I feel that any genuine attempt to sceptically question the world has to acknowledge the limits of different kinds of perception. There are mindful traditions which have come to the same insights as has Storr, but through introspective means. Some do offer a step beyond the kind of postmodern impasse at which Storr finds himself imobilised at the end of the book. This is, I believe, a civilisational roadblock that we now face. Storr is clearly prepared to explore such possibilities (he relates an agonising Vipisana meditation retreat he attended), but it seems he is yet to resolve this cognitive tension in his own mind.
  
  But then again, it is not Storr's stated aim to look so far ahead, and it does not make this book any less readable. In fact the tension lies at the heart of its artistic merit, I feel. It's a great read.
  
  This is one of the best books I have read this year. Buy it and read it. But don't expect a comfortable ride. You might even finish it feeling a little disturbed.
  
  Marcus T Anthony, PhD, author of "The Great Psi Shift"
• I loved this book. It explores the ultimate truth of human existence, to some extent. Absolutely everyone who emphatically follows a person who makes it their job to dispense their own truth to the masses is wasting their right to an opinion. That's the moral I derived from this story.
• I like Will's style of writing, his personal accounts are always entertaining and he isn't afraid to put some very personal parts of himself in his stories. I'll read this and other books written by Will again and again.
• The book covers much more than the title would suggest. It is about our perception of reality, told from a very personal point of view. It is thoroughly researched and Will Storr does a good job trying to stay objective. Which is - as is clear at the end of the book - simply not possible. Every one of us creates a story of the world around us, which is affected by the myriad of factors our upbringing, education, parents' beliefs, past events and even genetic factors.
  
  The book is written in a nice and engaging style. The author regularly baits the reader with controversial topics, then switches sides and defends the opposing point of view. At the end you understand that nobody knows the truth and nobody has the final answer. Something I hope to remember when I get caught in a hot argument.
• Mr. Storr never hesitates to check his own assumptions and biases, doubting his own brain and its behavior almost to a fault. There is more neuroscience here, anecdotally presented, than anything else - and it is a fascinating, high-density read. Highly recommended.
• Actually this is a fascinating read that explains a source of so much conflict. When we live too much out of our personal stories great suffering and blindness are created. ...As my father use to tell me, "My mind is made up. Don't confuse me with the facts!"
• this writer pissed me off, I wasted my time reading this book when I could have watched Simon Pegg's "Hector's Search for Happiness" again which is about what this book amounted to, only the movie was better and not as long. I am not going to pick the book apart, he is a good writer and he kept my interest going even though I knew how he was going to end the book before I was half way through, but he has cherry picked his facts on science and religion and refers to everyone else as heretics if you don't believe what he believes and he believes he did not confabulate.