6, reviews. An inspiring collection of the personal philosophies of a group of remarkable men and women. Based on the National Public Radio series of the same name, This I Believe features eighty essayists, from the famous to the unknown, completing the thought that begins the book's title. Each piece is compelling: Our consciousness controls human destiny. An essay written for the original This I Believe series. Anthropologist Margaret Mead spent many years in Polynesia studying indigenous cultures. She was.