loneliness, helplessness, and poverty are bad, but that that is by no means as far as positive psychology has taken and will take us. In one section, "The illusion of free will", Harris argues that there is a wealth of evidence in psychology (e.g. the illusion of introspection) or specifically related to the neuroscience of free will that suggests that metaphysically free will does not exist. This, he thinks, is intuitive; "trains of thought...convey the apparent reality of choices, freely made. But from a deeper perspective...thoughts simply arise (what else could they do?)". He adds, "The illusion of free will is itself an illusion". The implications of free will's nonexistence may be a working determinism, and Harris warns us not to confuse this with fatalism. One implication of a determined will, Harris says, is that it becomes unreasonable to punish people out of retribution—only behaviour modification and the deterrence of others still seem to be potentially valid reasons to punish. This, especially because behaviour modification is a sort of cure for the evil behaviours; Harris provides a thought experiment: Harris acknowledges a hierarchy of moral consideration (e.g., humans are more important than bacteria or mice). He says it follows that there could, in principle, be a species compared to which we are relatively unimportant (although he doubts such a species exists). Harris supports the development of lie detection technology and believes it would be, on the whole, beneficial for humanity. Religion: good or bad? Consistent with Harris's definition of morality, he says we must ask whether religion increases human flourishing today (regardless of whether it increased it in the distant past). He argues that religions may be practiced largely because they fit well with human cognitive tendencies (e.g. animism). In Harris's view, religion and religious dogma is an impediment to reason, and he takes Francis Collins as an example. Harris criticizes the tactics of secularists like Chris Mooney, who argue that science is not fundamentally (and certainly not superficially) in conflict with religion. Harris sees this as a patronizing attempt to pacify more devout theists. He claims that society can move away from deep dependence on religion just as it has from witchcraft, which he says was once just as deeply ingrained. Promotion In advance of publication, four personal and professional acquaintances of the author offered their praise for the book, including biologist and science popularizer Richard Dawkins, novelist Ian