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 Behave and Determined . An ingenious word for an invaluable concept. ...
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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 Behave 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 "Raz???n o fe" and the author of ???Fascinaos!: [Be Fascinated!] Una respuesta a las grandes preguntas.
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Add this copy of Contraduction to cart. $8.58, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2024 by Hypatia Press.
Add this copy of Contraduction to cart. $20.88, new condition, Sold by Ria Christie Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Uxbridge, MIDDLESEX, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2024 by Hypatia Press.
Add this copy of Contraduction to cart. $27.01, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Hypatia Press.
Add this copy of Contraduction to cart. $55.74, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2024 by Hypatia Press.
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.
