Many have no doubt read about recent findings in the field of neuroscience that has suggested that the unique sensations associated with religious awe and devotion eminate from a region in the temporal lobe. This region of the brain can be stimulated using magnetic probes to create a sense of religious fever. Even dedicated atheists have been tested on and had the same or similar results. This finding is consistant with all we know about brain chemistry andd how it shapes our sense of reality. Those with temporal lobe epilepsy have often become extremely religious. This new research helps explain why. It has been suggested that some famous religious figures of history had such epilepsy.(but thats another story)
My point is this. We are different. Our chemistry and anatomy make us unique individuals. It seems now that even this area of life (a religious propensity)can be associated with the activity of a region in the brain without the will or intent of the person. Does this not suggest to all of us, believers and nonbelievers, that what is needed is tolerance and a greater appreciation for what being human means? It means variety.
Good thoughts. Is this temporal lobe spiritual corner what others have called the God Spot?
Yes, if this research continues to prove valid it will certainly help us understand each other and help us to be more tolerant. I added "help us to be more tolerant" because there are many other genetically based unique human characteristics that no individual has control over which have yet to gain understanding and tolerance from the average Joe Blow. Perhaps with education and patience human society will grow emotionally.
Meanwhile your bringing this up is in accordance with your monikor, Peacefulpete.
Very interesting... I would love to be hooked up to something like that. I have always wondered what it was like to "know" that there was a god or a supernatural realm.
This is why I am an athiest... I have absolutly no sence of the supernatural. Can't feel a thing (supernatural) like most people seem to be able to. Oh, and before anyone out there trys to tell me that I'm doing something wrong, don't bother... I spent wasted 25 years of my life trying to "feel" god. It just isn't in me.
My point is this. We are different. Our chemistry and anatomy make us unique individuals. It seems now that even this area of life (a religious propensity)can be associated with the activity of a region in the brain without the will or intent of the person. Does this not suggest to all of us, believers and nonbelievers, that what is needed is tolerance and a greater appreciation for what being human means? It means variety.
To me what this suggests is the need for education. If people understood that these religious feelings were caused by easily explainable brain activity and could be reproduced in a lab, they'd be less likely to waste their lives peddling magazines, shun their family, fly planes into skyscrapers etc.
Yes, the God Spot. It appears tho that this is another oversimplification. The brain systems interplay to flesh out the ambiguous sensation. For those in christian cultures, naturally the experience takes a decidedly christian shape. What i'm trying to say is that "god" is not hard wired in the brain, rather a brain impression is embodied in other modules to "make sense" of the sensation. This is much like how our minds take random synaptic firings and weave a narrative from them to create dreams.
Believers see this new research as evidence that God made them to revere him while nonbelievers see it as an evolutionary glitch that no doubt served us well to cement social bonds and public responsibility.
