From theory of mind to divine minds
Filled with literary and pop culture allusions, The Belief Instinct is an entertaining and informative presentation of Bering's particular take on the cognitive science of religion (CSR). Following the prudent strategy common in CSR, Bering does not try to explain ‘religion’, but rather identifies the cognitive and evolutionary foundations for several areas of cultural expression most readers will regard as pertaining to religion. Unlike most previous treatments, Bering sees how much explanatory mileage he can get out of just one cognitive mechanism: theory of mind (ToM).
ABSTRACT Neils Henrik Abel (1802–1829) is quoted as saying, “It appears to me that if one wants to make progress in mathematics one should study the masters.” In the spirit of Abel, the author introduced original sources into three different classroom situations.