God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 287 pages
• Published by: Prometheus Books January 25, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1591024811
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1591024811
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 1.2 pounds

Richard Dawkins, Author of the New York Times best-seller The God Delusion
"Darwin chased God out of his old haunts in biology, and he scurried for safety down the rabbit hole of physics. The laws and constants of the universe, we were told, are too good to be true: a set-up, carefully tuned to allow the eventual evolution of life. It needed a good physicist to show us the fallacy, and Victor Stenger lucidly does so. The faithful will not change their minds, of course (that is what faith means) but Victor Stenger drives a pack of energetic ferrets down the last major bolt hole and God is running out of refuges in which to hide. I learned an enormous amount from this splendid book."

Sam Harris, author of the New York Times bestsellers, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation
"Marshalling converging arguments from physics, astronomy, biology, and philosophy, Stenger has delivered a masterful blow in defense of reason. God: The Failed Hypothesis is a potent, readable, and well-timed assault upon religious delusion. It should be widely read."

Reader Reviews
In a time when any human group is coming out of the closet, finally atheists are doing the same and are being outspoken. Articles and books by Dawkins, Harris, Dennet and Stenger are much needed in America, less so in old Europe where Sunday church attendance is low. I always wonder if there is a connection between a highly religious society and one with a high percentage of inmigrants o descendants of inmigrants. Religion is one of the last taboos, "the opium of the people" as marxism declared. Books such as Stenger's probably will not convince believers, but will reaffirm non believers. Religion is more part of our emotions than of our rationality. Why some people in Spain support Real Madrid soccer team and others Barcelona? There is no rationale, only emotions. Naturally, you can still debate in the light of science and philosophy whether such and such god is likely to exist or not. I read Stenger's book with interest in a couple of days and found some interesting things such as: -Jesus was not the first to say that you must love your enemies. Taoism and buddhism had already expressed the same ideas much earlier. -"Nothing" is unstable so it is bound to produce "something". This answers the central philosophical question: Why is there something rather than nothing? -There is no archeological evidence that Moises spent forty years in the desert with 600.000 people (what a logistic nightmare!). -Simplicity begets complexity (that I already knew since reading "The Blind Watchmaker" and knowing about genetic algorithms). Stenger gives so many (most simple) scientific arguments why the Judeo-Christian-Muslim God cannot exist that we should wonder why so many people still believe in it. The answer may lie in Sartre's dictum: "Man's essence is its desire to be God". In other words: God is our projection. Man may be the first entity by means of which the Univers wonders about itself. What are we doing here? Man has a desire to be trascendent, however the harsh reality is that we are all mortal. Having said that, isn't mortality needed so the Mankind and the Univers can evolve? Where would we be if the inquisitors, Hitler, Stalin wouldn't be dead? In other words: we still do not deserve immortality. But if we cannot be immortal (at least our soul), what is life's meaning? Stenger also provides some answers such as learn science, diminish the suffering, enjoy life and also quotes Aristotle's answers: contemplation, politics and the pursuit of pleasure which should equate approximately with the previous three. For me it all boils down to love, being a good citizen and finding a worthwhile activity that you like. As Woody Allen expressed succintly: "I enjoy making films". That's all there is, at least, for the time being. Comments (67) | | (Report this)