الخرافة: الايمان في عصر العلم

Voodoo Science #2

by Robert L. Park, حيدر عبد الواحد راشد (Translator)

لم يعد دور العلم في عصر المعلومات دائم التسارع هذا، مقتصرًا على الإنجازات التقنية والتقدم في مجالات الحياة الشاسعة بل إنه أصبح محورًا مهما لمسائل كثيرة في السياسة والاقتصاد المعاصرين، ولطالما يتصادم فيها مع الاعتقادات الدينية والخرافية التي لا تملك دليلا سوى التسليم المجرد والانقياد للسلطة الرسمية، أو حتى غير الرسمية.

ولهذا، وجد العلماء والأدباء، ذوو الرؤية العلمية الرصينة، أن من واجبهم تسليط الضوء على هذه الاعتقادات التي تفتأ تجر بالمجتمع للوراء، وتفرغ معظم المجادلات السياسية من محتواها بحرفها إلى خلافات عقائدية لا قيمة لها على الصعيد العملي، وبدلاً من ذلك، تقديم الموضوعات ذات الأهمية الفعلية والدور المصري في الحياة المعاصرة، وتفنيد الصور المشوهة وغير المكتملة عنها في عقول العموم، مستبدلين بها صورا واضحة متناسقة تتحد فيها كل أشتات الفكر دون تضارب.

ويقدم هذا الكتاب «الخرافة.. الإيمان في عصر العلم» المسائل الشائكة في صيغة قصص شائقة، تمتزج أحيانا بنقاط من حياة الكاتب وعلاقاته بالآخرين، وتنوع أبوابه بين مجالات العلم دون انحصارها بالفيزياء، اختصاص المؤلف.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, Psychology, Skepticism

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Robert Lee Park is an emeritus professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park and a former Director of Public Information at the Washington office of the American Physical Society. Park is most noted for his critical commentaries on alternative medicine and other pseudoscience, as well as his criticism of how legitimate science is distorted or ignored by the media, some scientists, and public policy advocates as expressed in his book Voodoo Science. He is also noted for his preference for robotic over to manned space exploration.


Goodreads knows of another author, named "Robert Park"; some of the books listed here (e.g. the concrete topics) may well belong there.

Reviews

[عمر الحمادي · Rating 4 out of 5]

الأفكار الواردة في الكتاب منطقية وقوية في نقد الخرافات خصوصاً ما ذكره في سياق الطب البديل... إلا أن المؤلف بالغ في توجيه سهامه اتجاه الدين والمؤمنين.

[Maryam Alhamdani · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's either me or a worldwide problem ! I mean I don't get it ? What's the elongation for ?
You can easily put your thoughts in a 50 pages instead of just keep repeating the same thing over and over again ! I would give it a 5 star if it was shorter ...
Anyway
The book it self is quite informative but it discusses the pseudoscience found only in the US and specially creationists and Christians .. leaving the rest of the planet to another book maybe !
The book is a 12 chapter , each of them discusses a different topic , personally i liked chapter 11 & 12 considering the topic is about neurological ,behavioral and spaces myths ..
لا اعلم لما السرد ؟ كان بالامكن اختصار الكتاب الى ٥٠ صفحة ليورد كل معلوماته وافكاره بدل ان يمدد بلكتاب ليجعلهه ٣٠٠ صفحة ..
بصورة عامة الكتاب يحتوي على معلومات جيدة وفي بعض الفصول ربما ستتغير فكرتك عن الكثير من الامور التي كانت وما زالت تعتبر من بديهيات العصر والمستقبل ..
هو عبارة عن ١٢ فصل يتناول كل فصل منها موضوعاً مختلفاً وخرافات في مجالات متعددة ..
احببت الفصل الحادي والثاني عشر لانه يناقش الخرافات المتعلقة بالسلوك البشري والمنظومة الاخلاقية والنمو السكاني والفضاء ..

Recommend

[Hashim Al-Jazzaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

يحكي الكتاب الكثير من قصص الصراع بين العلم والخرافات الشعبية والدينية وغيرها، يسهب الكاتب في الكثير من أمثلة هذا الصراع في ميادين البحوث العلمية والطبية والأحكام القضائية والقرارات السياسية.
تحكم الكاتب الكثير من مشاعر الشغف للعلم مضافاً إلى النفور من الخرافات الشعبية والدينية.
لعل النقطة السلبية الكبرى في الكتاب عند أغلب القراء أنه بالغ في توجيه سهامه نحو الدين بشكل عام، ولكنها قد تكون ردة فعل متوقعة نتيجة المفاهيم العلمية والطبية المغلوطة التي تم دعمها بنصوص دينية على مدى قرون وتبين بطلانها مع الاكتشافات العلمية الحديثة.

[Hussain Isa · Rating 2 out of 5]

العلم سبيلنا الوحيد للمعرفة، وكل ما سواه محض خرافة.
..
الدين والعلم يسيران في مسارات متباعدة، تتباعد اكثر ف اكثر مع توسع المعرفة.

[Khulod A Razak · Rating 2 out of 5]

ترجمه فاشله

[Book Shark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science by Robert L. Park

Mr. Park uses sound scientific principles to debunk popular superstitions many of which are wrapped in pseudo science. With sound logic and acerbic wit, the author makes this book a fun informative read.

Positives:

1. Well written, with supporting scientific data to debunk the popular superstitions.
2. 12 chapters of popular superstitions and or pseudo sciences, among them: prayer, creationism, intelligent design, souls, ghosts, out-of-body experiences (OBEs), afterlife, New-Age beliefs, homeopathy, and acupuncture to name the main ones.
3. Interesting throughout and accessible made for a quick fun read. Good bit of storytelling.
4. Good use of the theory of evolution. A lot of great examples of the power of evolution. I loved the story of the molecular anthropologist Sarah Tishkoff.
5. Plenty of interesting tidbits throughout.
6. Nothing like exposing charlatans who take advantage of the gullible. There are a plenty of charlatans exposed in this book.
7. Packs a good punch in under 250 pages.


Negatives:
1. The book has some misprints better editing required but it didn't distract too much.
2. I was expecting more details. Some of the superstitions were glanced over.
3. Some parts of the book, has more "rant" than substance.
4. Not as thorough as other books covering the same topics.

In summary, an interesting topic covered well lead to a quick read. An overall, good sound book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bob Park is fascinated by the same thing I am: why do so many people believe weird things with no evidence, or indeed that contradict the evidence and rational thought? He looks at a number of different things, from homeopathy to religion, and comes up with some answers. However, this book feels a little more like a collection of essays than a book, and doesn't say a whole lot that feels new. A quick, good read nonetheless.

"Humans all seem to be on the verge of apophenia. The brain that is able to link the tides to the phases of the moon may also see in the passage of a comet an omen of victory in battle, or perhaps link a distant supernova to the birth of a god. A strategy is needed to tell which patterns are significant, and which are merely coincidence. It took 160,000 years before such a strategy was found. We call it science."
-Bob Park

[Moritz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a very entertaining book and the message is quite clear. He just iterates through pseudo science, beliefes and new age religions and shows why its just not true. Especially alternative medicine gets its fair share of criticism. Its all well written and entertaining.

I was a little disappointed by the book because I hoped to get answers on WHY people belief this kind of stuff. Instead I got a lot of information on WHAT they belief and why its false. But I think the WHY question would have been a lot more interesting. There are even some sentences where he touches on the WHY but never dares to dive deeper into it.

The book is good for what it is, I just hoped it to be something else.

[Giselle Odessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

يتحدث الكاتب و هو فيزيائي عن الخرافة في وقتنا الحالي و كيف أن عقل الاغلبية من البشر لا زال يجد صعوبة في التخلّي عن مختلف الخرافات التي تعرّض و يتعرّض لها منذ الطفولة, من الخرافات الدينية إلى خرافات العلوم الزائفة التي تتقنع بقناع العلم مثل العلاجات المثلية و الشفاء بالطاقة.
كتاب جيد يظهر التعارض التّام بين العلم من جهة و الاديان و التقاليد و الخرافات من جهة أخرى.

[Sama Al-Obaidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب مهم جدا وخصوصا لاصحاب العقول النقلية يتضمن 14 خرافة منتشرة في واقعنا وحياتنا الليومية بشكل لا ندركه اهمها العلاج الخاطئ وكذلك تظرق لدعوة مهمة للجميع الا وهي ان العلم والمعرفة هي السبيل الوحيد لنا في هذا العالم

[Quratulain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[سالم عبدالله · Rating 4 out of 5]

ممتع

[Muhannad Jajo · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب مميز وله مكانة أولويّة.

[DrosoPHila · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had a bit of "second book syndrome" feeling. If you can, read Voodoo Science first and then read this if you liked Voodoo.

I can imagine in my mind, the publisher phoning Dr Parks and asking for "more of the same please Bob", leaving Bob scratching his head for a while, because a year (or so) previously the very same publisher had demanded that he had used all of his better ideas in Voodoo - "otherwise there won't be a second book". But of course he got his act together and wrote more of the same, just quite understandably not quite as good.

The result was a 2 star "it's OK" book; Voodoo is presumably 3 or 4 stars (I don't know - I haven't read it. I only read this because I picked it up from the local library. That's why I recommend avoiding replicating my (tediously minor) mistake). Starting with an author's first book is usually a good idea anyway in most circumstances (just as double brackets are a bad idea (in most circumstances)).

At some point I plan to read Voodoo.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Park is a physicist who enjoys debunking silly, superstitious, and or fraudulent beliefs. At the end of his book, the author, has the good grace to admit that the existence of God can be neither proved nor disproved. However, throughout, he makes clear his essential contempt for religion and religious beliefs. He reserves special contempt for those who profit through fraudulent claims of healing or for espousing a religious view but behaving in ways antithetical to those views. A lot of entertaining stories to illustrate his points. Park is clearly not aware of some of his own prejudices and what one might call superstitious beliefs. But that's a minor point.

[Jim Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my effort to understand why people believe so much nonsense this book comprised a readable collection of chapters much like those of other books I have read recently. Written by a physicist (well, nobody's perfect), Park's point of view is similar to mine-basically that (in the words of Sagan) extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and that most claims of supernatural or miraculous effects are explainable by natural phenomena. We all acknowledge that there is much that is not understood in nature but science will likely understand it someday. The point being that science is based on not knowing how everything works but in investigating just how things are.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its not bad, content is interesting and quite accurate.
Pity is the author focuses a lot on creationists in the USA, and the world is much bigger than that.
I think putting science in the perspective of other religious trends (catholics, buddhists) would have been more interesting than just focusing on USA creationinst who are -let's be honest- quite amusing to the rest of the religious world (this is by no means religious disrespect, as it is the opinion of many Christians and evangelists, strong believers themselves)
on the other hand, believer areound the world have a much more subtle belief, and putting that one in perspective would have been really interesting.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Park is much more open to allowing those he disagrees with their right to believe. An enlightened atheistic approach to the issue of religious belief. For further reflections see: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

A feeble, petulant diatribe.

[A. J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great matter of fact commentary on the current state of irrationalism. A fun read.

[Joel Sassone]

Short but excellent. In addition to subjects like reading and writing, bullshit detection classes should be taught in school from an early age.

[Tyler Malone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy and enjoyable to read. For me, the book offered nothing new -- but to a person who bends a knee to superstition, it could be of great help.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done...familiar territory.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy read, yet a very concise dismantling of superstitious thinking.

[Reza Eskandary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the author has a brilliant and genuine mind in tracing superstitious beliefs especially in Judeo-Christian western culture, but his approach to the things not defined by science is so prejudicial. Just take a look at his last sentence and it's clearly showed: "Science is the only way of knowing - everything else is just superstition."
Also this is notable that he ignored superstitious beliefs in other religions and cultures -probably because of lack of data and his responsibility to readers- which made the book a little bit far from eastern readers' minds.
But, by the way, I liked his honest way of gathering and representing data and his beautiful arrangement of the data, memories, stories and dialogues together in a continuous body.

[Robert Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still engaging, even on the 3rd read

Robert Park does a wonderful job exploring the science of nature and the superstitions of humans. I first read this book many years ago as a Christian dipping my toes into atheism to test the waters. Now a full on atheist, this book continues to engage my mind with the philosophy of science and statistics.

I find many atheist authors a bit antagonistic towards the religious, spiritual, and superstitious. Park, through his friendship with two Catholic priests and his friendly demeanor toward those on the fringes of pseudoscience, comes across as respectful while maintaining a firm belief in science as the only means through which to understand the universe.