Top Ten Myth-Shattering Books

(list compiled March 2006 by Jock Doubleday)

1. Joseph Chilton Pearce

The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit   

Shatters the myth that spirit, god, or "the force" is outside of us. Proposes that culture in general, and the Church in particular, has become an undesirable mediator between the human heart and the human brain.

2. Camille Paglia

Sexual Personae    

Shatters multitudinous myths, primarily the myth that culture is the master of nature.  Proposes that nature is the mistress of culture.

3. Christine Maggiore 

What If Everything You Thought You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong?   

Shatters the myths that AIDS is a new disease, that HIV is the cause of AIDS, and that AIDS is now, or has ever been, an epidemic.  Proposes that AIDS is a new name given to a collection of familiar illnesses, that HIV is not and cannot be associated with AIDS, and that AIDS has never achieved epidemic status in any time period in any country.

4. Jamie Murphy

What Every Parent Should Know About Childhood Immunization    

Shatters the myth that vaccination is either effective or safe.  Proposes that vaccination is both ineffective and dangerous.

5. Robert Ardrey

The Territorial Imperative   

Shatters the myths that human aggression (the baring of fangs) is environmental in origin and destructive in effect.  Proposes that human aggression (not violence) is instinctive and fruitful.

6. Joseph Chilton Pearce

Magical Child    

Shatters the myth that hospital birth is safe for most women.  Proposes that midwife-attended home birth is the safer option for the great majority of mothers and babies.

7. Robert Pirsig

Lila   

Shatters the myth that objects have qualities.  Proposes that quality comes first, that quality (the good, the Tao, etc.) has objects.

8. Alan Watts

Nature, Man, and Woman    

Shatters the myth that science perceives nature truly.  Proposes that science is a secondary form of perception.

9. Ayn Rand

The Virtue of Selfishness    

Shatters the myth that selfishness is bad.  Proposes that selfishness is the foundation of good.

10. A.S. Neil

Summerhill    

Shatters the myth that children must be forced to learn.  Proposes a detailed plan for noncompulsory education.