Skepticism has failed. Science is now a mishmash of unjustifiable theories and the skeptical understanding of religion is hopelessly juvenile. Mitchell covers a lot of ground, showing that expert opinion in major fields – physics, biology, medicine, and climate science – disagree sharply with the mainstream. He backs the assertion up with a detailed refutation of Big Bang, HIV/AIDS, the Modern Synthesis of Evolution, and anthropogenic global warming, all based on expert analysis. The analyses find contradictions and egregious errors in the theories themselves.
Mitchell also covers the industry of fraud and peer review in science through study after study. The evidence shows fraud is far more prevalent in science and beyond anyone’s control. Peer review appears to be hopeless, asked to perform a task it was never intended to – verifying the validity of theory. Peer review is only for checking the internal consistency of published papers.
Mitchell also cracks into epistemology, laying out the forgotten philosophies of Karl Popper, Thomas Kuhn, and Ludwig Fleck. These titans all come to the radical conclusion that science can never establish certainty ever. These explications alone are worth the price of the book.
In Part II, Mitchell shows the painful errors of skepticism in analyzing religion. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are seen to be far different than the simplistic straw-man fabrications of skeptics. This doesn’t mean they are perfect – far from it. But each religion has its own complexities, characters, and fascinating aspects.
Finally, we have the unique theory of spirituality – it is the ground of religion and science. When these separate, the head (science) and the heart (religion) go to war. But they need each other for true understanding. There are directly perceivable truths beyond rational analysis, so an intuitive/heart approach is critical. But the intuition is easily misled and inflates what it sees, so a critical approach is necessary, too. Genuine spirituality, defined as the quest for truth, is the ground of religion and science. When the two seeming opposites understand this, there will be an explosion of human understanding.
