Contraduction

Dan Barker

• Publisher: Hypatia Press
• Year: 2024
• ISBN:
  9781839195983
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Atheism

In a quiet and unassuming way, Contraduction is utterly brilliant. Every page has a thought so deep and unexpected that it stops you in your tracks, as you not only realize, "That's a different, really interesting way to think about the world, exactly the opposite of how I normally view things" but also, "And it is absolutely equally valid (and enriching) to adopt this opposite way of thinking." I loved this book. — Robert Sapolsky, author of The Blank Slate and Determined.

An ingenious word for an invaluable concept. Sharp, clear, and timely. — Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and the author of The Blank Slate and Rationality

Both a delightful read and a penetrating argument: Barker has invented an invaluable new concept, and puts it to work with clarity, wit, and above all conclusiveness. A must-have book! — A. C. Grayling, author of The History of Philosophy and The God Argument

I am completely down with the concept of contraduction. It fills a need. False pattern recognitions pose a real danger to our survival. Well done! — Ann Druyan, author (with Carl Sagan) of Cosmos, Contact, and Demon Haunted World

I love it when brilliant ideas are conveyed clearly and soundly. That's why I love this book. Dan Barker has provided a much-needed explication of a common fallacy that needs to be understood and rebutted. It is an engaging, enlightening, and insightful book.— Phil Zuckerman, author of Society Without God and What it Means to be Moral

With Contraduction, Dan Barker gives us a new word—and a new way of looking at things. I thoroughly enjoyed this! So much to think about—and it made me laugh. What else could I ask for? — Kate Cohen, contributing columnist for the Washington Post and author of We of Little Faith

I love how Dan Barker offers us a new word to help us understand how to think rationally in a fun, simple way. I will never look at my reflection in the mirror the same! — Bailey Harris, author of My Name is Stardust

Barker has really created something mega with this book. WOW, what an absolutely awesome mind bender [mind fuck] contraductions are, while at the same time seeming very obvious. I give Contraduction 50 hell-yeahs! [fuck-yeahs!] (outta 50). — Zeke Piestrup, director of Apocalypse Later and Satan's Guide to the Bible

Dan Barker's approach reminds me of Douglas Adams' famous Intelligent Design analogy about the rain puddle that "fits me rather neatly." A simple shift of perspective can be invaluable in our understanding, and Dan's fresh angle gives us plenty to consider. Simply put, I've never read anything quite like Contraduction, and that's a good thing. — Seth Andrews, Author of Deconverted: A Journey from Religion to Reason

Contraduction is a delight and lights the way through complexity. Pound for pound, Dan Barker's best book. — Ed Buckner, Author (with Michael Buckner) of In Freedom We Trust: An Atheist Guide to Religious Liberty

A clarifying vision of the most baffling aspects of reality: from the simplest, such as our reflection in a mirror, to the most complex, such as time, evolution or the very existence of life. – Manel Salido, founder of "Razón o fe" and the author of ¡Fascinaos!: [Be Fascinated!] Una respuesta a las grandes preguntas.

Table of contents

• Advance Praise
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• Acknowledgments
• References