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Review: The Third Basic Instinct: How Religion Doesn't Get You
- By Gary Dale Cearley
- Published December 26, 2008
- Religion and Spirituality
Gary Dale Cearley
Reviewer Gary Dale Cearley is an expatriate American who chooses to write about controversial material. His subject matter tends to run the gamut from historical subjects to biography and even humor. Originally from Arkansas, he has spent several years in Korea as well as Vietnam and is now living in Thailand.Â
View all articles by Gary Dale Cearley
Author: Alex S. Key
ISBN-10: 1419654748
ISBN-13: 978-1419654749
I had an affinity with this book. Alex Key has done his homework. His book, The Third Basic Instinct: How Religion Doesn’t Get You has a very powerful message delivered in a very straightforward way, citing examples from history, philosophy, popular culture and direct sources from the Bible, Quran, etc. I found the book fascinating in that the author tackled religious farce on so many different levels but always starting from a basic point: Our third basic instinct.
The three basic instincts the author describes are
based on Alex Key’s years of study about the nature of man and his
society. The first two basic instincts we share with all other
living things and these deal with survival and reproduction.
The third instinct sets us aside from our animal kin much more than
the opposable thumbs: It is curiosity and learning. To Alex
Keys it is this third instinct that created religion, to explain the
unknowns in the world around us. And it is also this basic
instinct that should do away with religion. The more we know
and learn the less we need to attribute to the supernatural and myth,
which essentially are what makes up religion.
Like the recent work by Christopher Hutchins, God is not Great, Alex Key sites numerous examples of how religion does grave disservices to mankind. Not only the many wars fought throughout history with religious beliefs and affiliations used as casus belli but also many cruelties, injustices, murders and the like perpetrated by the faithful in the name of their gods. Alex believes that these are against nature because it goes against natural selection and even though these acts are undertaken in the name of religion, they are grossly immoral acts.
Another very interesting part of this book was Alex
Key’s description of what he called the “Platinum Rule”, as
opposed to the Golden Rule that we have been raised to know. In
Key’s Platinum Rule selfishness, in a long-term perspective, is
actually a virtue as the benefits are in the future and tend to have
positive effects on society. This is in direct opposition to
short-term and short-sighted selfishness which benefits the few.
The Third Basic Instinct is quite an eye opening book, even for guys like me who have read several similar books before. The fact that Alex Keys has used so many various sources has served the author well to keep the book interesting – and an interesting read in my opinion tends to be a light read, no matter how heavy or serious the subject of the book is. I believe that this book has the potential to serve as a base for Alex Key to become one of our rising stars in social commentary. I am really interested to see what he comes up with next!