Dennett, Daniel C. -- Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
Dennett calls for religious behavior to be studied in all the ways
that you might expect would freak out non-atheists: anthropologically,
sociologically, biologically, evolutionarily, memetically. Only has
the barest sampling of such studies; Dennett is mostly
counterarguing-in-advance the objections and the freaking-out. If you
think humans can never or will never study themselves that way, this
is an interesting book. If you think you already do it because you're
an SF fan, you should probably read the book anyway, if only to cure
your naivete about how hard sociology is. If you want to understand
religion, this book will not solve your problem.
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