Dr. Samir Shah's book Hacking God, Men & Me By A Maverick Shrink is a large compilation of observations, vignettes, paradoxes, and Shah parables. He offers poetic twists on the paradoxes of life and man's quotidian beliefs. "One can choose to remain oblivious or dare to examine the 'obvious,'" is the one statement that sums up Shah's ambitious objective for this book,
In this collection of essays and parables, some of the most widely held beliefs and important philosophical issues involving God, the mind, freedom, knowledge, and ethics are subtly or blatantly challenged. Comfortable truths about God, humanity, and the world are visited in numerous tales and parables. Shah introduces uncompromising logic into his philosophical arguments regarding these common beliefs.
Shah's book is a profound look into our flawed belief system where we are afraid to view the obvious because it contradicts or challenges the view of the social group we are a part of. The book hammers on the fact that we are all flawed human beings. Despite our best intentions, it is easy and natural for us to unconsciously buy into beliefs that feel right, are championed by our community, or allow us to stay comfortably in our social group. Collective delusion is not new; it is something that we as humans have struggled with since the beginning of civilization; for example, the world is round, light comes from our eyes, we are the center of the universe, and more beliefs that men died in their attempt to set right.
One interesting parable Shah included struck me as so sadly true. It was about freedom or maybe degrees of freedom. A monkey in the circus knew he could free himself from his confinement and be whatever he could be as a free monkey. But as he thought about it, he came to the conclusion that he did not really want to be free. He wanted others to take care of him and was willing to accept their rules and teachings in exchange for his submission to their whims.
Shah states, "One can choose to remain oblivious or dare to examine the 'obvious'," but as flawed human beings, that is a huge undertaking. Most of us harbor at least some false beliefs. We think the truth is obvious, but a conclusion of a truth is based on the information derived from the collective knowledge of the community you are a part of, which creates a vexing problem. Is the community a perfect barometer of the truth? The answer is no.
Unfortunately, Hacking God, Men & Me By A Maverick Shrink, will not be well received by many because it exposes so many of our failures and fallacies in our beliefs. It will undoubtedly offend or frighten many. For those who do brave his work, you will undoubtedly find flaws in your own belief system but that is probably one of the goals is to challenge your brain to really think, and understand the truth. Shah's book is a concise, provocative guide to rethinking the obvious and thinking for yourself.
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