The Belief Machine: A Bibliography of Human Progress vs. Tribalism

50 Books That Demonstrate How Dogma Can Still Overwhelm Reason...

In 2022, I designed and taught an online class called Families Divided By Politics. I had learned to heal some political divides in my family and I wanted to help others do the same -- if they felt that losing touch with an important family member was more dire than who was in the White House.

At the time, I began assembling a bibliography of excellent books on the brain, behavior, and our inherent irrationality that I had been reading since the 1990s. That list has grown quite a bit lately because there are so many great "windows on the mind" that have been published in the past eight years by neuroscientists, psychologists, social scientists, historians, biologists, anthropologists, and excellent political observers like my new friend Seth David Radwell.

Seth's book is a massively interesting study titled American Schism: How the Two Enlightenments Hold the Secret to Healing Our Nation. I'm currently listening on Audible and will be ordering the hard copy soon to dig in deeper and make notes. I thought I knew my American history, and the roots of the Founding and the Founders in Enlightenment ideals and debates, but Seth describes a hidden philosophical divide that is both fascinating and full of hope.

If you are more interested in "the believing brain" side of things, and how humans get caught up in mob, crowd, cult, and tribal delusions and dogmas, there's two dozen titles in that arena alone! And if you grabbed my Deep Time and the UFO Paradox ebook here, you won't be disappointed to find lots of titles that deal with conspiracy thinking, pseudoscience, and science illiteracy.

So grab this meta guide to human beliefs, reason, and their conflicts and find your new rabbit hole of knowledge and insight!