Spirituality from the perspective of science books

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Important topics in science and religion

When you hear 'quantum mechanics' you may think 'create your own life'. Books on this page are written to target that kind of misconception. Quantum mechanics DOES NOT prove that we can create our lives just by how we think. Quantum mechanics can be interpreted to support such ideas - but that's as far as it goes.
Few physicists agree or even care about how you should change your life. They care about how minuscule particles interact, how to predict what they do, and how to develop theories about what we don't yet know about electrons and protons and such.

In other words - this collection of books is meant to help you decide for yourself what you believe and what is true.

In other words: books by scientists about the themes that most concern us: God, Evolution, the Mind and more.

Quantum Gods 

Creation, Chaos, and the Search for Cosmic Consciousness

Taking a look at quantum spirituality and how it combines with actual quantum mechanics. In other words: What truth is there to the claims of quantum spirituality and is it really supported by quantum physics?

Also tries to talk about the kind of God that DOES confirm with quantum mechanics - not the best part of the book I think, but still interesting.

Quantum Gods: Creation, Chaos, and the Search for Cosmic Consciousness

Amazon Price: $17.81 (as of 11/22/2009)Buy Now

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The Accidental Mind 

How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God

Explaining who we are and what we concern ourselves with from an evolutionary standpoint.

The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God

Amazon Price: $12.21 (as of 11/22/2009)Buy Now

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The Meme Machine 

Susan Blackmore applies evolutionary theory on something other than genes: she applies it to culture. Cultural ideas (aka memes) are spread just like genes: they are successful if they make sure they are replicated and have 'survival' capacity.

An interesting if controversial look at what makes humans different from other animals: culture.

The underlying thread is: much human behavior (nuns, monks, homosexuals) can't be explained from a strictly evolutionary perspective. If we're evolutionarily designed to have kids, all of us, there would not be people who decline that pleasure for the sake of spirituality of sex with someone of the same sex. So why do people have those behaviors then? Well, says Blackmore, because they're replicating memes instead of genes.

The Meme Machine

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What's Next: Dispatches on the Future of Science 

Ah, this is fun... the most controversial ideas in science today, that promise to take over science tomorrow. Like all futuristic books one cannot expect this one to be right on all counts. Still, it's interesting to find out what ideas scientists are pondering, what possibilities they have in view when looking at their fields.

What's Next: Dispatches on the Future of Science (Vintage)

Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 11/22/2009)Buy Now

Available on Kindle

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Goedel, Escher, Bach - an eternal Golden Braid 

D.R. Hofstadter (1980)

A fascinating book that explains the fundamental problems in the research of consciousness and artificial intelligence. Each chapter starts out with dialog between the Tortoise and Achilles, getting harder and harder till it ends with mathematics that most readers will not be able to understand.

But reading what you can understand in this book will help you to stretch your mind and understand a few of the essential dilemma's in modern science.

Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Amazon Price: $15.61 (as of 11/21/2009)Buy Now

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You may also be interested in this 

Quantum spirituality in it's latest incarnation... 

You think quantum mechanics all agree that God has nothing to do with physics? Here's one university professor who feels differently.

What books did I forget?  

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