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Chris OConnor 
Rhodes Scholar
BookTalk.org Owner
Joined: 20 Oct 2000
Posts: 6839
Gender: 
Location: Florida
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 Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:53 pm Post subject: Suggestions for our Sept. & Oct. NON-FICTION book
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WANTED: Suggestions for our Sept. & Oct. NON-FICTION book
Please use this thread for making suggestions for our September and October 2008 non-fiction book. If you can say a few words about why you would like to see your suggestion as a BookTalk.org selection I'd appreciate it. And add a link to a review or Amazon.com if you know how.  |
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Chris OConnor
Rhodes Scholar
BookTalk.org Owner
Joined: 20 Oct 2000
Posts: 6839
Gender:
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject:
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You may notice that I've added an additional non-fiction book discussion to the menu. The book is "50 reasons people give for believing in a god," and the discussion period is for August & September 2008. This period overlaps with "Walden" in August and it will overlap with whatever we pick for our September & October non-fiction book. Please consider joining this discussion, but keep using this thread here for suggesting non-fiction books for our September & October book discussion.
So what should we read and discuss in September & October? |
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LanDroid
Senior
Silver Contributor
Joined: 27 Jul 2002
Posts: 384
Gender:
Location: Cincinnati, OH
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| Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:35 pm Post subject: On Being Certain
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This one looks interesting:
ON BEING CERTAIN: Believing You Are Right Even When You're Not by Robert A. Burton, MD.
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ON BEING CERTAIN is a revolutionary look at how we know what we know. At stake is the commonly held belief that we can logically and reasonably determine when our thoughts are correct.
If, after due rumination and deliberation, we decide that a thought must be correct, we presume that this conclusion is itself a conscious choice. ON BEING CERTAIN presents compelling evidence that this assumption is inconsistent with present-day understanding of basic brain function. Drawing from case studies and recent neuroscience advances, as well as such far-ranging subject material as the physics of baseball, high-stakes poker, and popular discussions of gut feelings and the nature of intuition, ON BEING CERTAIN systematically undermines certainty and conviction as products of reason.
The central premise:
Despite how certainty feels, it is neither a conscious choice nor even a thought process. Certainty and similar states of “knowing what we know” are sensations that feel like thoughts, but arise out of involuntary brain mechanisms that function independently of reason.
http://www.rburton.com/work1.htm |
Here's an interview with the author, but I couldn't get it to work:
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/41651-authors-google-robert-burton
This book sounds rather disturbing, which could be a good thing... |
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Chris OConnor
Rhodes Scholar
BookTalk.org Owner
Joined: 20 Oct 2000
Posts: 6839
Gender:
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 8:31 pm Post subject:
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| On Being Certain does look like a good choice. |
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Chris OConnor
Rhodes Scholar
BookTalk.org Owner
Joined: 20 Oct 2000
Posts: 6839
Gender:
Location: Florida
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:01 pm Post subject:
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We have had only one suggestion since June 22nd.  |
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