Topic awaiting preservation: Religion on the Brain.

I think someone posted an article here a while back about a section of the brain that is predisposed to religion. Anyone remember the link? Thanks.

Yup. That was Bugs, and I think it was in the Formal Debate on God...or the Peanut Gallery...

Do a search...

I think I might have mentioned that in "God?" part 1... Or maybe it wasn't here... I know I've talked about it before somewhere...

But it's from a book called "The God Part of the Brain"
-- http://www.godpart.com/
-- http://www.herbertwarmstrong.com/god_part_of_brain.htm

quote:

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Matthew Alper wrote The "God" Part of the Brain from the evolutionary point of view. Alper tries to explain how our brains developed the believe of God. He sees it as a survival advantage.

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See also,
-- http://www.bibleandscience.com/godpartbrain.htm


It's been several years since I read it, but I definately recommend it, whether you believe in any God(s) or not. And if I remember correctly, the epilogue is classic

________________________________________________________________
-- Jack of all trades, master of that which has my attention at
the moment.

Unoriginal Cell 693

Hmm, well those are all good too. But I think there was a post here a while back that wasn't part of another thread. It was a thread starter I guess about some scientific article that talked about the same thing those are talkin about too. I've searched but couldn't find it. Maybe this isn't where I saw it but I'm pretty sure it was.

don't use the word science randomly, plz

if you want something more "climbable" here it is http://www.arachnoid.com/levels/index.html

glorp blah pooky science weee!

hah! used it randomly!

quote:

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Although temporal-lobe epilepsy is rare, researchers suspect that
focused bursts of electrical activity called *temporal-lobe transients* may
yield mystical experiences. To test this idea, Michael Persinger of
Laurentian University in Canada fits a helmet jury-rigged with
electromagnets onto a volunteer¢s head. The helmet creates a weak magnetic
field, no stronger than that produced by a computer monitor. The field
triggers bursts of electrical activity in the temporal lobes, Persinger
finds, producing sensations that volunteers describe as supernatural or
spiritual: an out-of-body experience, a sense of the divine. He suspects
that religious experiences are evoked by mini electrical storms in the
temporal lobes, and that such storms can be triggered by anxiety, personal
crisis, lack of oxygen, low blood sugar and simple fatigue¯suggesting a
reason that some people *find God* in such moments. Why the temporal lobes?
Persinger speculates that our left temporal lobe maintains our sense of
self. When that region is stimulated but the right stays quiescent, the left
interprets this as a sensed presence, as the self departing the body, or of
God.
Those most open to mystical experience tend also to be open to new
experiences generally. They are usually creative and innovative, with a
breadth of interests and a tolerance for ambiguity (as determined by
questionnaire). They also tend toward fantasy, notes David Wulff ...

I was alone upon the seashore ... I felt that I ... return[ed]
from the solitude of individuation into the consciousness of unity with all
that is ... Earth, heaven, and sea resounded as in one vast world encircling
harmony ... I felt myself one with them.

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Full Article

I am pretty sure this is it, but a little bit different. I think I posted the original, but I can't find the one you are talking about.



[This message has been edited by Gilbert Nolander (edited 11-08-2002).]

I remember seeing that one as well. I couldn't find it in the archives, however. Sorry.

S^abaal ud T'a johtizuc^ult'a Fedaro.