Believing The Impossible Before Breakfast

Why does every society around the world have a religious tradition of some sort? Professor Lewis Wolpert investigates the nature of belief and its causes. He looks at belief's psychological basis and its possible evolutionary origins in physical cause and effect. Wolpert explores the different types of belief - including that of animals, of children, of the religious, and of those suffering from psychiatric disorders. And he asks whether it is possible to live without belief at all, or whether it is a necessary component of a functioning society.

Tao is the name for that which cannot be named, a name for the nameless – just like god or dhamma or truth or logos. These are not really names, but human helplessness. We have to call it something, we have to address it. Tao is one of the most beautiful names given to the unknown, because it is utterly meaningless. God has become very meaningful, hence it has lost significance.

Alice laughed. 'One can't believe impossible things.' 'I dare say you haven't had much practice,' said the Queen... 'Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.' ~Lewis Carroll, Alice Through the Looking-Glass Could there be a knife that never dulls? A gun with no moving parts? A broken clock that tells time? Here, Dr. Michael Laufer and John Nolan reply, "Of course!" Through these conundrums, they show how to unleash the creative energies of the brain to solve even the knottiest enigmas. For instance, one could: Reinterpret the problem. Change the rules. Change the solution. Whether it's showering without water, driving a car without an engine, or using a computer without electricity, these are high-level challenges for breakout thinking. With this book, you'll stretch your minds and be primed to solve the next "impossible" problem before lunchtime.

Alice beyond Wonderland explores the ubiquitous power of Lewis Carroll’s imagined world. Including work by some of the most prominent contemporary scholars in the field of Lewis Carroll studies, all introduced by Karoline Leach’s edgy foreword, Alice beyond Wonderland considers the literary, imaginative, and cultural influences of Carroll’s 19th-century story on the high-tech, postindustrial cultural space of the twenty-first century. The scholars in this volume attempt to move beyond the sexually charged permutations of the "Carroll myth," the image of an introverted man fumbling into literary immortality through his love for a prepubescent Alice. Contributions include an essay comparing Dantean and Carrollian underworlds, one investigating child characters as double agents in untamed lands, one placing Wonderland within the geometrical and algebraic “fourth dimension,” one investigating the visual and verbal interplay of hand imagery, and one exploring the influence of Japanese translations of Alice on the Gothic-Lolita subculture of neo-Victorian enthusiasts. This is a bold, capacious, and challenging work.

A guide to the whats, whys, and hows of the Christian faith for new believers. Well-respected pastor Max Anders helps ground new Christians in the faith. Thirty-six, easy to follow chapters deepen your understanding of biblical doctrines, while helping you apply them to everyday life. Learn what God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit have done for the world and for you. Gain a better understanding of the spiritual world, salvation, and the Bible.