To Believe Or Not To Believe: The Social and Neurological Consequences of Belief Systems [Paperback]

Rahasya Poe (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 326 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris (November 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1441587276
• ISBN-13: 978-1441587275
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #857,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Up-to-Date Leading Edge Information, February 19, 2010

By 

Joyful Changes - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To Believe Or Not To Believe: The Social and Neurological Consequences of Belief Systems (Paperback)

The research in this book is thorough and up-to-date. The interviews of leading edge thinkers are very valuable reading; the subjects are wide-ranging and interesting and the quotes are marvelous. Part of the book is laid out in a question/answer format which is very effective. This is the book I wish I had been able to read when I was a teenager and was trying to decide what I believed, having rejected the hellfire and brimstone teachings of the local Baptist church. This is the book I wish had been available 40 years later when I was rejecting the ultra conservative Republican programming that I grew up with. Every subject that is covered in this book is timely. Rahasya has brought together ideas and research that most people know nothing about, such as the Sitchin work. As the Australians would say, "Good ON Ya!" If you're ready to think for yourself, you can't go wrong with this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, Is This a Visioneery Look Into What Is Possible for Human Beings?, March 18, 2010

By 

Bill Tucker "Bill Tucker" (Taos, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Believe Or Not To Believe: The Social and Neurological Consequences of Belief Systems (Paperback)

As I read the first 2 parts of this book on the Social & Neurological consequences that our belief systems have on us I was amazed at the thought that went into this and the information almost seemed catalytic somehow because it made me start thinking again about these things that for far too long I have simply accepted. The social consequences are in our face today especially when dealing with religious and political beliefs but the neurological consequences were undeniable and new and well documented with HeartMath research and fMRI studies by neuroscientists. When you read what someone like Dr. Andrew Newberg say that the maintenance of belief systems that produce anger cause brain damage in the form of atrophy you really need to take notice, especially when you see the evidence.
But where this book really takes an interesting turn is Part III called "Rewriting Human History." Having a background in archeology I am familiar with the Sumerian clay tablets and what they say but for some reason I never connected the dots between pre-Sumerain civilizations and the influence they had on the first 5 books of the Bible. I mean if we are going to disassemble beliefs what better way than to show through the latest archiological evidence how those early writings are just copied and edited down versions of much much older stories. At first I got hung up on whether or not those Sumerian stories were true or not and realized that it doesn't matter, what matters is that they predate the Torah by centuries if not millennia. This does truly rewrite our human history which is actually a Biblical history that we have blindly accepted. Plus, it's the very "key" to solving the missing link in evolution where the Intelligent Design supporters come in and say ha ha, here is the proof of a designer. They may be right but it's not the designer they had in mind I'm afraid.
So yes, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a serious searcher of truth, but be prepared because it will change the way you see the world and your relationship to it.
Bill Tucker, Taos, New Mexico
P.S. By the way, I also read Rahasya's other book, The 12 Spiritual Laws of Recovery: and Meditations for the 12-Step Program and gave it to my nephew who was having a drug problem and it helped a lot. Rahasya's writing style feels like he's talking only to you so it has an emotional element to it.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stop pretending we know the unknowable, December 15, 2009

By 

Michael Peter Langevin "Magical Blend Magazine" (Chico, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Believe Or Not To Believe: The Social and Neurological Consequences of Belief Systems (Paperback)

Testimonials

Rahasya's detailed exploration of "belief" and the various ways
in which it keeps us locked in destructive modes of thinking and
experiencing life is a wonderful addition to the modern spiritual
library. Reading the book itself is an interesting exercise in watching
the way "beliefs" operate in our lives. He explores a wide range of
themes from an even wider collection of viewpoints. As the Buddha
said, "Find out for yourself what is true."
Bill Martin, The Parent's Tao Te Ching (as seen on Oprah's Book Club)

"Why do we believe what we believe? Poe asks this critical question at
a very critical time in history and delves deeply into a mind-boggling
examination of the neurology of belief and the sociological
consequences and implications for our future. The book covers the
spiritual, scientific, and psychological origins of belief, including the
influence of the world's great religions, with input from scientists,
researchers, and spiritual leaders on how we can change those beliefs
to empower ourselves, humanity, and the planet. The author devotes
ample time to the neuroscience behind belief and comes to the
stunning realization that our beliefs do indeed affect our brains, often
with negative results. Poe's book is a comprehensive and enlightening
look at what we have come to believe, personally and collectively, and
why we must challenge the paradigms that no longer serve us."
Marie D. Jones, author of 2013: End of Days or A New Beginning?
--Envisioning the World After the Events of 2012

Comments in To Believe Or Not To Believe by scientists, researchers, and visionaries:

We will have won this war of ideas against religion when atheism
is scarcely intelligible as a concept. We will simply find ourselves in
a world in which people cease to praise one another for pretending
to know things they do not know. This is certainly a future worth
fighting for. It may be the only future compatible with our long-term
survival as a species. But the only path between now and then, that I
can see, is for us to be rigorously honest in the present. It seems to me
that intellectual honesty is now, and will always be, deeper and more
durable, and more easily spread, than "atheism."
Sam Harris, author of Letters to a Christian Nation and End of Faith
**************************
How do you get out of a belief system? First you have to destruct the
belief system. Traditionally, the teacher is supposed to remove your
ignorance. But when you remove ignorance, you start with removing
what is causing the ignorance, which is your belief system. So the
teacher's job indeed is to fi rst deconstruct your belief system. And then
to give you inspiration so you'll go out to create a path to discover
what is spirit, what is beauty, what is love, because these things
nobody can teach you. So teaching really should be a demolition job.
Amit Goswami
**************************
Fundamentalism, in and of itself, is benign and can be personally
beneficial, but the anger and prejudice generated by extreme beliefs
can permanently damage your brain.
Dr. Andrew Newberg, author of How God Changes Your Brain
************************
The first thing we need to do is realize that some of our old beliefs are
dysfunctional and no longer work, if indeed they ever did. If the desire
to do that isn't there, there's nothing to do.
Fred Alan Wolf, author of Taking the Quantum Leap
************************
The difficulty in today's world is our technology and science has
outrun our theological advances. The reason for that is in technology
and science, we have had the courage to ask the single question that
theology has been afraid to ask, Is it possible that there's something I
don't know about this, the knowing of which would change everything?
~~~~~~
What if everything we thought about God up to this point was not
necessarily true? Tomorrow's God is what emerges from our
willingness to question our prior assumption.
Neale Donald Walsch, author of Conversations with God
**********************
What the brain likes to do is to simply replace
old ideas or beliefs with new ones.
Dr. Joe Dispenza, author of Evolve Your Brain
~~~~~~
I see the main problem as a spiritual one, not a resource problem, or a
problem with this or that government, but a larger problem centered
around human beliefs, the troublesome elements founded in our mythology.
Our problematic mythology is collapsing all around us.
It is a mythology that is predatory.
Albert Villoldo,Ph.D.

There's an abundance of testimonials and research data that backs up everything in this book at [...]