Understanding Beliefs, Nils J. Nilsson
Understanding Beliefs, Nils J. Nilsson
1 Rating(s)
List: $24.98 | Sale: $17.49
Club: $12.49

Understanding Beliefs

Author: Nils J. Nilsson

Narrator: Don Hagen

Unabridged: 2 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 09/01/2015

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series Our beliefs constitute a large part of our knowledge of the world. We have beliefs about objects, about culture, about the past, and about the future. We have beliefs about other people, and we believe that they have beliefs as well. We use beliefs to predict, to explain, to create, to console, to entertain. Some of our beliefs we call theories, and we are extraordinarily creative at constructing them. Theories of quantum mechanics, evolution, and relativity are examples. But so are theories about astrology, alien abduction, guardian angels, and reincarnation. All are products (with varying degrees of credibility) of fertile minds trying to find explanations for observed phenomena. In this book, Nils Nilsson examines beliefs: what they do for us, how we come to hold them, and how to evaluate them. We should evaluate our beliefs carefully, Nilsson points out, because they influence so many of our actions and decisions. Some of our beliefs are more strongly held than others, but all should be considered tentative and changeable. Nilsson shows that beliefs can be quantified by probability, and he describes networks of beliefs in which the probabilities of some beliefs affect the probabilities of others. He argues that we can evaluate our beliefs by adapting some of the practices of the scientific method and by consulting expert opinion. And he warns us about "belief traps" -- holding onto beliefs that wouldn't survive critical evaluation. The best way to escape belief traps, he writes, is to expose our beliefs to the reasoned criticism of others.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kevin

Don’t misunderstand this book’s title. Nils Nilsson, an engineer and artificial intelligence specialist, isn’t interested in how we usually understand “beliefs,” which may mean religious convictions, opinions held without ironclad evidence, or partisan loyalties. Rather, Nilsson focuses on how we kn......more

Goodreads review by John

I liked a few brief analogies given by Nils. The first one was how beliefs tend to be like clothing, many people simply wear what they have to wear, some wear clothing to be fashionable, or to be comfortable, or to reveal their authority. The other, in light of the Kantian idea (he doesn't however m......more

Goodreads review by André

UNDERSTANDING [ALL KNOWLEDGE AS] BELIEFS 1. This book is no treatise on religion or superstition, conspiracy thinking or self-help nonsense. Nilsson believes that all declarative knowledge is just belief--we can tell about reality but not how reality is. Our theories are limited by our perception and......more