Official Review - Waking Up by Sam Harris

[RandyReadingRoundUp]

(9/10) This is the latest book by Sam Harris, most famous for his first book The End of Faith. This book is a wake up call to atheists, churchgoers and everyone in between. The premise of the book is that religion is not prerequisite to spirituality. It is possible to believe in a deeper side of our existence regardless of your beliefs about god, religious dogmas, etc. Over 20% of Americans consider themselves spiritual but not religious, and the number continues to grow as people lose faith in organized religion. This is an excellent book, and a must read for all inquisitive, searching, and intelligent people.

Some of his most important points and thoughts:

Although religion is a monument to the ignorance and superstition of our ancestors, some psychological truths do exist in their teachings.
Scientific fact and spiritual wisdom are not opposites and both are worthy endeavors for all minds. Scientists should not ignore spiritual wisdom and religious people should absolutely never ignore scientific fact.
There’s a difference between participating in a faith-based delusional practice and investigating the nature of one’s mind absent of doctrinal assumptions.
“The Bible and the Quran are worse than useless. Whatever wisdom can be found in their pages is never best found there and it is subverted time and again by ancient savagery and superstition.”
“Even for extraordinarily lucky people life is difficult. And when we look at what makes it so, we see that we are all prisoners of our thoughts.”
“Some people are content in the midst of deprivation and danger while others are miserable despite having all the luck in the world. This is not to say that external circumstances don’t matter, but it’s your mind rather than the circumstances themselves that determines quality of life.”