h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I saw a really interesting program a few days ago about the search for a biological explanation for religious belief and visions. It seems that people who suffer from temporal lobe epilepsy have spiritual visions. They also have discovered that people who do not have epilepsy but who are very religious usually have more activity in their temporal lobes than those who are skeptics.

The brain can be stimulated to produce visions and feelings of being in the presence of angels, spirits, whatever. So the theory is that the reason that religion is/has always been an important part of the human experience is as much biological as learned behavior.

Toward the end of the program a religious man said that rather than diminishing the religious experience by explaining it away, it could indicate that God stimulates the brain in order to get our attention. Which I personally think is reaching just a tad but is an interesting take on the situation.

It is a known fact that some animals have heightened senses compared to humans. Dogs can hear sounds that humans can't hear, for example. Perhaps our temporal lobes are evolving to allow us to percieve a spiritual plane of some kind. Or it could be the opposite. Perhaps our temporal lobes are becoming less sensitive, which would account for the greater numbers of nonbelievers.

I remember being taught that faith is a gift. That actually makes more sense in light of these studies. If our brains are responsible for religious belief, then a person whose temporal lobes are not as ctive can hardly be faulted for not believing. Perhaps they don't possess the ability to believe.

It has also been said that religious fanaticism is a form of mental illness. That also makes sense. It could very well be a form of schizophrenia.

There is a nun in a monastery on the west coast who started having visions that changed her and her entire religious community. Her visions created a state of rapture and left her practically floating psychologically. Then she was diagnosed with epilepsy and told that the visions weren't real but were caused by her illness. This resulted in her feeling like a fraud, and she considered herself cursed rather than blessed. How could she have such an experience only to be told that it had no validity and she not only was not being singled out by God but had a screw loose. I felt so sorry for her.

Anyway, I think it's a fascinating subject and should be studied.

Agreed. It is indeed very facinating. I'm reading a novel set in the late 1600s and it is interesting to note that none of the characters question the existance of god at all. (Not even the scientists or 'natural philosophers' as they're called) It's just taken for granted that he exists. Of course the novel was written recently and, though the author and undoubtably done a lot of research, it is hard to know if this is an accurate description of the times.

It's interesting the theories put forward as we learn more and more about the brain. I wonder what the human potential will be when we understand it completely. Will we ever understand it completely?

Very interesting, Hypatia. Thanks for sharing.

Good topic.
It is very similar to the NDE experiments and questions.
I believe in Near Death Experiences but the same sort of explanations are used for those.

Why not think it is possible to be implanted with a God energy receptacle or special nuerotransmitter amoong the others known? Or perhaps a place which resonates to a different wavelength of energy or vibration.

I always think of vision and all the parts of the brain and systems that are required to see and interpet. Then there are hallucinations that are *seen as real*. We still do not understand all the intricant mechanisms involved. Seizures can create all sorts of oddities with misdirected electrical energy ,why can't a God who created beings direct or mis-direct some temporarily for a higher purpose or connection?

Have you read 933635 Neurotheology - The God-Shaped Hole in the Head?

(just browsing the N's in the index and I thought of you recent posts on this topic)

Pimms

That should of course read A933635 Neurotheology - The God-Shaped Hole in the Head

Very timely. Thanks Pimms. I have read it and shall go back and read the entire project when I have the time.

I remember seeing it some months ago and wanting to read it, then forgot about it.

Very interesting topic here. I had a severe manic episode in 1993, which caused all sorts of religious delusions. Once the medication took effect, I questioned whether ALL my religious beliefs were delusional. It took several years to get sorted what I do and don't believe about God, and to feel comfortable with that.

JEllen

This is another instance of taking a study and interpreting it to suit yourself. Some researchers are saying that this is proof that genuine religious experiences do not exsist and that visions are a result of brain pathology. The believers are saying that all it means is that they are more 'tuned in'.

JEllen, did you reach the conclusion that all of your experiences were delusions? I don't know exactly how to express this, but just because an experience can be created or stimulated doesn't necessarily mean it isn't real. If there is a spiritual plane that coexists with our physical plane, then a glimpse into it could be valid even if extraordinary measures are employed to achieve it.

I keep thinking about James Randy (The Amazing Randy), the magician who has put up a $1 million prize to anyone who can prove to him that they have psychic abilities. So far no one has been able to do this. Randy is able to duplicate the results achieved by so called psychics through the use of illusion, slight of hand, cold readings, etc. So since he can produce a result by trickery he believes that the psychics are also using trickery to achieve their results. Why does one have to incicate the other?

Were all of our saints and visionaries suffering from brain pathology? Isn't it possible that the stimuilation of the brain allows us to see something that is actually there but hidden from us under ordinary circumstances?

I think there is room for both realities.
One does not have to cancel out the other in my mind.


I am so glad Jellen came by
She has the most wonderful adventures in dreams!
She also has a dream journal on h2g2.
She has some computer problems like myself, so I hope she makes it back soon.

Hi Hypatia,

No, I did not come to the conclusion that all my religious experiences are delusional. Quite the opposite. Things like near precognitive dreams (I've had a few), accounts of past life memories recounted under hypnosis, and accounts of near death experiences have convinced me that there is more to life than science can define. Some of my delusions I can point to pretty confidently and say, ok, this was the illness -- such as the idea that I am some sort of messiah sent to save the world. I can read accounts of other people dealing with mental illness, and see that they have had similar delusions, which is comforting in an odd way. I label something as delusional at the point which it becomes a danger to me, or necessatates my going in the hospital. I have managed to distinguish these from the smaller epiphanies of life, like feeling rapture when listening to music. I still cherish stuff like that.

JEllen

Hi Abbi, computer is still hanging in there!