The God Delusion
Richard Dawkins, 2006
Religion & spirituality PhilosophyPopular scienceContemporary fiction
A biologist argues that unbelief is a reasonable position, and that morality, meaning and wonder survive perfectly well without God.
Feels like defiance and curiosity. About faith, morality and society.
A page from the book
If you're only good because someone is watching, is it goodness?
Do you really mean to tell me the only reason you try to be good is to gain God’s approval and reward, or to avoid his disapproval and punishment? That’s not morality, that’s just sucking up, apple-polishing, looking over your shoulder at the great surveillance camera in the sky, or the still small wiretap inside your head, monitoring your every move, even your every base though. Richard Dawkins.Dawkins coined the word 'meme' in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, two decades before the internet gave it a life of its own.
Books that feel like this
Where to get it
Some of these links earn us a small commission, at no cost to you. It keeps BookFeed free.
Questions readers ask
- What is The God Delusion like?
- Feels like defiance and curiosity. About faith, morality and society.
- What should I read after The God Delusion?
- If you liked The God Delusion, try The Way of Kings (Brandon Sanderson), Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert A. Heinlein) and The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell).
A taste of the feed
If mathematics is independent of God, where does human morality belong?
“I just don’t see how anything could be outside God’s decrees.” The king shook his head, bemused. “Brightness Jasnah, I don’t mean to argue but isn’t the very definition of the Almighty that all things exist because of him?” “If you add one and one, that makes two, does it not?” “Well, yes.” “No God needs to declare it so for it to be true, Jasnah said. “So, could we not say that mathematics exists outside the Almighty, independent of him?” “Perhaps.” “Well,” Jasnah said, “I simply claim that morality and human will are independent of him too.” “If you say that,” the king said, chuckling, “then you’ve removed all purpose for the Almighty’s existence!” “Indeed.”
The Way of Kings · Brandon Sanderson
The crushing weight of a moment that changes everything.
Jill put a hand to her mouth and screamed. Smith’s face had been completely blank. Now it became tragically forlorn as he realized that he must have chosen wrong action at the cusp. He looked imploringly at Jill and began to tremble. His eyes rolled up; he slipped slowly down to the grass, pulled himself tightly into a foetal ball and was motionless.
Stranger in a Strange Land · Robert A. Heinlein
We think friendship grows from shared beliefs; the data says shared calendars.
A study at the University of Utah found that if you ask someone why he is friendly with someone else, he’ll say it is because he and his friend share similar attitudes. But if you actually quiz the two of them on their attitudes, you’ll find out that what they actually share is similar activities. We’re friends with the people we do things with, as much as we are with the people we resemble. We don’t seek out friends, in other words. We associate with the people who occupy the same small, physical spaces that we do.
The Tipping Point · Malcolm Gladwell
Read pages from books like this, one at a time
Keep reading in the feed