Contraduction

by Dan Barker

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Contraduction and learn a new way to think about the world.

Genres: Nonfiction

Audible Audio

Published July 10, 2024

About the author

Daniel Edwin Barker is an American atheist activist and musician who served as an evangelical Christian preacher and composer for 19 years but left Christianity in 1984. He and his wife Annie Laurie Gaylor are the current co-presidents of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He has written numerous articles the organization's newspaper Freethought Today. He is the author of several books including Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist. Barker has been an invited speaker at Rock Beyond Belief. He is on the speakers bureau of the Secular Student Alliance.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Barker's excellent new book is bold and brilliant, quirky and whimsical, fast and funny and very well might be the best and most important book he has written. After finishing it, Contraduction immediately went on my To Be Reread pile.
Barker's introduction to this book details the relatively short evolution of the word Abductive to Contraduction, born in a debate against a religious person in Florida. While birthed in a debate with that religious person and Barker, an atheist, Contraduction goes well beyond the arguments of belief versus knowledge into the realms of how the brain operates and responds to stimuli in an all too common kneejerk reaction, taking our legs out from under us, denying us to take a stand to view a new and slightly different horizon.
Steven Pinker's book blurb, one of many from a number of excellent writers, is the most prominent and best: "An ingenious word for an invaluable concept. Sharp, clear and timely."
While I pride myself in walking in another person's shoes by the large amount of books/stories I've read, Contraduction has opened an entirely new vista for my world view, one that I eagerly anticipate exploring.
And here's hoping Barker writes at least 25 more books with newly minted words, fleshing out an alphabet of strange fresh words, offering exploration of our universe, like a turned kaleidoscope.
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Side Note: Dan Barker signed his book for my wife and I at the Freedom From Religion Foundation convention in Denver last week.

[Mr. Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at Mr. Book's Book Reviews.

Mr. Book just finished Contraduction, by Dan Barker.

This book was published in September 2024.

This is the fourth book I’ve read by this author, of which all of them have gotten either an A+ (God: The Most Unpleasant Character In All Fiction and Godless: How An Evangelical Preacher Became One Of America’s Leading Atheists) or an A (Mere Morality).

Contraduction is a term that Barker created to mean inversion of thinking or order. For example, the sun rising, rather than the earth moving, would be an example.

This is a very good book on how people think. Among the best topics covered were time and fine tuning. While the book was short and is a quick read, it was definitely very interesting and worth while.

I give this book an A.

Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

Mr. Book finished reading this on November 28, 2024.

[Matthew Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read on the arguments against intelligence design found it interesting and insightful. It doesn't try to go further then needed and provides plenty of other reads that can be much more independent if needed. The big question I get from the book is. What assumption are you making that center on the human perceptive? For those that might want to think about the debate between creationist and atheism.

[Ken Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking.

This book seems very simple,but i found many times a struggle because not my way of thinking and confusing. As i got further in i found i needed to slow down and contemplate the example. I plan on rereading a few time for deeper understanding.
My hope is this word and way of thinking becomes more my default when examining issues.

[Syalindran Sevasamgaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seeing the world in an opposite direction..

[Kirsten Tautfest · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting concept but I don't think he explained what he meant very well. It did make for a good discussion with my freethinkers book club tho.