Books

Science writer John Horgan (author of the excellent book Rational Mysticism) weighs in on Jerry Adler’s “The New Naysayers” in Newsweek, an article about Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris: As I expected—can it be otherwise for a mass-market essayist?–he panders to his audience, which is after all predominantly religious. (Adler notes that a recent Newsweek poll found that 92 percent of Americans believe in God and only 37 would vote for an atheist for President.) He does a fair job of summarizing the “highly inflammatory” arguments of Dennett/Dawkins/Harris, namely, that religions make false and contradictory claims and spur people to commit destructive acts. But Adler not-so-subtly distances himself from the skeptics’ viewpoints. … And what is Adler really saying here? Just this: we must give a pass to delusional beliefs that are held sincerely by millions of people, especially if they are Newsweek subscribers. I have my differences with Dawkins et al, but I admire their courage, especially compared to the cowardice that afflicts pop-culture intellectuals like Adler when they write about religion.P.Z. Myers has are more detailed critique of the Newsweek piece here.

There’s a market for books by women who claim to have been the sex slaves of the famous. In Cathy O’Brien’s book, Trance Formation of America, she claims to have been raised to be a mind-controlled sex slave for presidents and celebrities on behalf of the CIA. The book is filled with completely absurd claims and unbelievable scenarios, and written in such a way as to be simultaneously titillating gossip about famous people and condemnation of such immoral acts. In short, it’s pornography for gullible prudes, much like the Meese Commission Report on Pornography that was sold by Focus on the Family (with the nastiest parts edited out). “Brice Taylor” (Susan Ford) was another mind control sex slave claimant, whose book Thanks for the Memories is similar in content to O’Brien’s–she tells of being the sex slave to both Henry Kissinger and Bob Hope. Kola Boof, a Sudanese-American raised in Washington, D.C. who has written for the soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” claims that she was Osama bin Laden’s mistress in Morocco in 1996. (A time when Bin Laden was in Sudan.) In addition to claiming that Osama bin Laden was interested in Whitney Houston and liked to listen to the B-52’s, she says she was forced to have sex with other al Qaeda members, including two terrorists who were long dead at the time she describes. The publisher of Boof’s book has been contacting bloggers who refer to Boof as a “sex slave,” stating that she was bin Laden’s mistress. Wonkette has an appropriate response. Boof may not be as crazy as Ford and O’Brien, but it sounds like her book may fall into the same genre. ...

I’ve submitted this review of The Millionaire Mind by Thomas J. Stanley, Ph.D. (2001, Andrews McMeel Publishing) to Amazon.com: This is a deeply flawed book. It purports to be a description of the characteristics and attitudes that make wealthy people wealthy, but it is based mostly on their self-assessments without comparison to a control group. I suspect that this heavily underplays the role of random chance in success, and attributes causation where there is only correlation. Further, the author display clear biases on a number of topics, which leads him to engage in ad hoc interpretation of his data, sometimes to argue for conclusions that are contrary to the clear implications of the data–such as his arguments for the importance of religion in the lives of millionaires. On pp. 33-35, the author looks at success factors, and compares to the role of luck on pp. 82-85, which he downplays in favor of discipline. While he touches on the importance of having the right connections (and the genetic contributions to intelligence), on p. 85 he asks “what does luck have to do with graduating from medical school? What does luck have to do with successfully running a medical practice? Very little, according to these physicians.” But what does luck have to do with being born into a family and in a country where one has a chance to reach adulthood, let alone be able to attend a medical school? Quite a bit. ...

Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of the New Republic, has written an strongly negative review of Daniel Dennett’s new book, Breaking the Spell. Wieseltier maintains that religion is beyond the scope of scientific examination, and so takes issue with a key aspect of Dennett’s project. Wieseltier’s review has been critiqued by Brian Leiter (at Leiter Reports, here), P.Z. Myers (at Pharyngula, here), Taner Edis (at the Secular Outpost, here), and Michael Bains (at Silly Humans, here). I disagree with Bains about the term “scientism,” even though I am quite sympathetic to “naturalized epistemology” and giving science a major role in philosophical questions. There is clearly quite a lot of room for disagreement about the idea that science should be the primary mechanism of inquiry in all domains–most scientists regularly argue that science draws no moral or ethical conclusions, which means they leave that area to philosophy or (a mistake, in my opinion) religion. There is a key passage of Wieseltier’s review that I partly agree with: It will be plain that Dennett’s approach to religion is contrived to evade religion’s substance. He thinks that an inquiry into belief is made superfluous by an inquiry into the belief in belief. This is a very revealing mistake. You cannot disprove a belief unless you disprove its content. If you believe that you can disprove it any other way, by describing its origins or by describing its consequences, then you do not believe in reason.In general, the origin of a belief is irrelevant to its truth or falsity. However, if Dennett’s mission is like Pascal Boyer’s, to give an account of why people believe in religion in general, rather than to prove that religion is false, then this is not an objection to what Dennett is doing. Further, if the explanation produced is the best explanation around, then that is good reason to believe that explanation (over an explanation that says religion is divinely inspired). The fact is that there are lots of different religious beliefs that people hold, and they contradict each other. We know from the outset that all religions cannot be true–in fact, the mere existence of the contradictions is sufficient to show that much of the content of most religions must be false. Why people continue to believe it is something that requires explanation. If the best such explanation is a naturalistic one, and that explanation fits the evidence for all religious belief better than supernatural explanations, then that is good reason to favor the naturalistic explanation over the supernatural explanations. Wieseltier seems to reject “inference to the best explanation” as a form of reason. UPDATE: Dennett has responded with a letter to the New York Times, and Wieseltier responds immediately following.

I read (and completed) the following books in 2005. I’ve reviewed most of them at Amazon.com (where the links point): Richard Abanes, One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church Pascal Boyer, Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious ThoughtRachel DeWoskin, Foreign Babes in Beijing: Behind the Scenes of a New China Cory Doctorow, Eastern Standard TribeMark Haddon, the curious incident of the dog in the night-timeMichael A. Hiltzik, Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age Peter W. Huber and Mark P. Mills, The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy Penn Jillette, Sock David Cay Johnston, Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich–and Cheat Everybody Else Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Joel Levy, The Scam Handbook: The Secrets of the Con Artist Richard Marcus, American Roulette: How I Turned the Odds Upside-Down–My Wild Twenty-Five-Year Ride Ripping Off the World’s Casinos John Markoff, What the Dormouse Said: How the 60s Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron Ben Mezrich, Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions Kevin D. Mitnick and William L. Simon, The Art of Intrusion: The Real Stories Behind the Exploits of Hackers, Intruders & Deceivers Matthew Modine, Full Metal Jacket Diary John Allen Paulos, A Mathematician Plays the Stock Market V.S. Ramachandran, A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness Jon Ronson, The Men Who Stare At Goats Paul Scharbach and John H. Akers, Phoenix: Then and Now Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy Jim Steinmeyer, Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear Anthony Storr, Feet of Clay: Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus Teller, “When I’m Dead, All This Will Be Yours!”–Joe Teller, a portrait by his kid, Teller Vicki Lewis Thompson, Nerd Gone WildIra Winkler, Spies Among Us: How to Stop the Spies, Terrorists, Hackers, and Criminals You Don’t Even Know You Encounter Every Day Richard Yancey, Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man’s Tour of Duty Inside the IRS I began, but haven’t yet finished: James Bovard, The Bush BetrayalAntonio Damasio, Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling BrainDiego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia: The Business of Private Protection Jennifer Michael Hecht, Doubt: A History Olivia Judson, Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All CreationV.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee, Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind Spammer-X, Inside the Spam Cartel: Trade Secrets from the Dark SideThomas J. Stanley, The Millionaire MindRobert H. Tillman and Michael L. Indergaard, Pump & Dump: The Rancid Rules of the New EconomyJohn Viega and Gary McGraw, Building Secure Software: How to Avoid Security Problems the Right WayAndrew Vladimirov, Konstantin V. Gavrilenko, Andrei A. Mikhailovsky, WI-FOO: The Secrets of Wireless Hacking ...

I’ve been reading James Bovard’s book, The Bush Betrayal, which makes an overwhelmingly strong case that George W. Bush is not only a terrible president by liberal standards, but by conservative or libertarian ones (Bovard falls into the libertarian camp). The book is 278 pages of text followed by 43 pages of end notes (which, unfortunately, are mostly references to secondary sources) documenting Bush impropriety, dishonesty, and bad decisions regarding civil liberties, free trade, education, farm subsidies, Medicare, the war on drugs, and in war. I just finished reading the chapter titled “Spending as Caring,” which has a section on the expansion of Medicare to cover prescription drugs in 2003 (pp. 121-126), which the Bush administration estimated would cost $400 billion in its first decade (and the Congressional Budget Office estimated would cost $2 trillion in its second decade). The initial vote took place at 3 a.m. on November 23, 2003, and lost by two votes. The Republicans violated House rules, which limit votes to 30 minutes, with the longest floor vote in House history. The voting finished at 6 a.m., with two Republicans changing their votes to yes and passing the bill. Rep. Nick Smith (R-Michigan) was a Republican Congressman who opposed the bill and came under intense pressure to change his vote. Smith, who was in his last term and whose son was running for his seat, was told (according to Robert Novak–not a source I’d ordinarily rely upon) “business interests would give his son $100,000 in return for his father’s vote.” He declined, at which time “fellow Republican House members told him they would make sure Brad Smith never came to Congress. After Nick Smith voted no and the bill passed, Duke Cunningham of California and other Republicans taunted him that his son was dead meat.” Fortunately, Cunningham is now out of office after confessing to taking millions of dollars in bribes. A month after Bush signed the bill, Josh Bolton, Bush’s budget director, raised the estimate of the first decade’s cost to $540 billion. As it turned out, the Bush admnistration had known since June 2003 that the cost was higher than $400 billion, from an estimate by Richard S. Foster, the top actuary at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Democratic staffers had contacted Foster asking for an estimate, which he was legally required to provide, but Thomas Scully, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, reportedly threatened to fire Foster if he provided the information. Foster later said that “there was a pattern of withholding information for what I perceived to be political purposes.” Why was this information suppressed? Because 13 conservative House members had vowed to vote against any bill costing more than $400 billion–they were deceived by the Bush administration. Eighteen Democratic Senators requested the General Accounting Office to investigate whether any laws were violated (specifically a law that prohibits paying federal funds for the salary of any official who “prohibits or prevents, or threatens to prohibit or prevent” another employee from communicating with Congress). House Republicans blocked an effort to have Scully and White House aide Doug Badger testify before a congressional committee on this issue. The Congressional Research Service published a legal analysis which concluded that “such ‘gag orders’ have been expressly prohibited by federal law since 1912.” This position was backed by a 1927 Supreme Court ruling on that law which stated that a “legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of information regarding conditions which the legislation is intended to affect or change." But the worst part about all of this deception is that the program itself is mostly a handout to people who don’t need it. The Medicare prescription drug benefit helps wealthy elderly, corporations, and insurance companies more than elderly without insurance coverage. This change in the law brought the date of Medicare insolvency from 2026 to 2019, and is projected to cost up to $7 trillion over the next 75 years. After the bill passed, the Bush administration then spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising to promote the law, including “video news releases” by fake reporters which the GAO determined in March 2004 were illegal “covert propaganda” with “notable omissions and weaknesses” and were “not strictly factual news stories." The above gives a small sampling of the content of Bovard’s book (though not his exact words, I’ve summarized), which is packed with equally damning criticism of the Bush administration. BTW, Capitol Hill Blue (an often criticized source, yet which seems to often be quite accurate) claims reports from three witnesses that George W. Bush said, in response to criticisms of the USA PATRIOT reauthorization act, “Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!” (Hat tip to Scott Peterson from the SKEPTIC list.) ...

As per Majikthise and Pharyngula: How many books on the American Library Association’s most-challenged books list have you read? Apparently having children gives you quite an advantage that I lack (I haven’t read any of the children’s books published after the 1970s). Looks like about 25 of them for me, though some of them I didn’t read all of (like William Powell’s idiotic and dangerously inaccurate The Anarchist Cookbook). I’m also not sure I actually read all of the Judy Blume books listed here. Do I get any bonus points for being a contributor to a challenged book (though not one of the top 100, it was actually removed from a South Carolina public library in response to complaints)? Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling Forever by Judy Blume Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Giver by Lois Lowry It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck The Color Purple by Alice Walker Sex by Madonna Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Go Ask Alice by Anonymous Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard The Witches by Roald Dahl The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry The Goats by Brock Cole Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane Blubber by Judy Blume Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier Final Exit by Derek Humphry The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Beloved by Toni Morrison The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton The Pigman by Paul Zindel Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard Deenie by Judy Blume Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice) Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole Cujo by Stephen King James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy Ordinary People by Judith Guest American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume Crazy Lady by Jane Conly Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher Fade by Robert Cormier Guess What? by Mem Fox The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Lord of the Flies by William Golding Native Son by Richard Wright Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen Jack by A.M. Homes Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle Carrie by Stephen King Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge Family Secrets by Norma Klein Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole The Dead Zone by Stephen King The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison Always Running by Luis Rodriguez Private Parts by Howard Stern Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Running Loose by Chris Crutcher Sex Education by Jenny Davis The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier ...