Persinger and Dawkins!
UPDATED: Now, to me, this is spirituality itself.
Two of my favorite scientists in one article:
Horizon introduced Dr. Persinger to one of Britain's most renowned atheists, Prof Richard Dawkins. He agreed to try his techniques on Dawkins to see if he could give him a moment of religious feeling. During a session that lasted 40 minutes, Dawkins found that the magnetic fields around his temporal lobes affected his breathing and his limbs. He did not find god.
I'm familiar with Persinger's intriguing work with plasma and the possibility of electromagnetic phenomena in the environment stimulating the temporal lobes, producing awe-inspiring hallucinations (miracles, visions, alien abductions, merging with the Godhead, etc.).
I am very sympathetic to the idea that a religious sense is in some respects genetic, rather than being strictly cultural. The University of Minnesota conducted such a study.
Two of my favorite scientists in one article:
Horizon introduced Dr. Persinger to one of Britain's most renowned atheists, Prof Richard Dawkins. He agreed to try his techniques on Dawkins to see if he could give him a moment of religious feeling. During a session that lasted 40 minutes, Dawkins found that the magnetic fields around his temporal lobes affected his breathing and his limbs. He did not find god.
I'm familiar with Persinger's intriguing work with plasma and the possibility of electromagnetic phenomena in the environment stimulating the temporal lobes, producing awe-inspiring hallucinations (miracles, visions, alien abductions, merging with the Godhead, etc.).
I am very sympathetic to the idea that a religious sense is in some respects genetic, rather than being strictly cultural. The University of Minnesota conducted such a study.
posted by Kristine | Tuesday, April 11, 2006
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