Religion
Related: About this forumDisabling parts of the brain with magnets can weaken faith in God and change attitudes to immigrants
A joint team of American and British scientists have discovered that powerful magnetic pulses to the brain can temporarily change people's feelings on a variety of subjects - from their belief in God, to their attitude to immigration.
The study, published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, saw scientists use a metal coil to create strong magnetic fields around certain parts of the brain.
The non-invasive practice is called trancranial magnetic stimulation, and has can be used to treat depression.
However, researchers have now found that by targeting the part of the brain that deals with threats, they can temporarily change people's beliefs and views.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/brain-magnets-decrease-faith-in-god-religion-immigrants-a6695291.html
randys1
(16,286 posts)treat Hillary Clinton like shit because they can.
No real men in the GOP, from what I can see.
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)us what we are.
Knowledge doesn't frighten me enough to stop me from celebrating it.
Nitram
(22,776 posts)Remove baseless fear and you become a Democrat.
rug
(82,333 posts)Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)Yes that also was not a valid implication derived from the research.
rug
(82,333 posts)Now, what do you think causes anti-religious bigots?
Brettongarcia
(2,262 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)Last edited Wed Oct 28, 2015, 09:02 AM - Edit history (1)
Brettongarcia
(2,262 posts)There does seem to be scientific data here, correlating religion and fear.
rug
(82,333 posts)Why do you choose to make accusations of anti religious bigotry, in precisely the very moment it is least in evidence? When simple, strong scientific evidence, not bias, is being presented.
Obviously you are desperately, fearfully, trying a diversionary technique.
rug
(82,333 posts)Do you or do younot believe there is anti-religious bigotry and ant-religious bigots?
Brettongarcia
(2,262 posts)Your question is ultimately an important one. But rather than taking in too many big questions at once, the usual method in science and rational discussion, is to take on smaller, solvable questions, or parts of the bigger picture.
So? The specific implied question in this particular posting, is roughly this, say: what should we now say, when science proves religion is based on brain states? And especially, on fear.
The bigger question is important. But suppose we take it one piece at a time
sammythecat
(3,568 posts)when it comes to the evangelicals, and my "bigotry", if that's what you choose to call it, is caused by fear. They genuinely scare me.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)Guess what. The same sort of transrcranial magnetic probes can render a person unable to lie.
I think the correlation to turning off religious faith is highly revealing.
Another brick in the wall of my growing suspicion that none of you actually believe at all. Not really.
goldent
(1,582 posts)struggle4progress
(118,270 posts)decreases their altruistic tendencies
This really has the potential to completely change our ideas about altruism!
I'm still trying to get funding
cleanhippie
(19,705 posts)That's where you should start.
struggle4progress
(118,270 posts)Yorktown
(2,884 posts)It might mean religion is some kind of mental disorder, after all.
Jim__
(14,072 posts)The two were split into two groups - one, the control group, was given a sham dose of magnetism that was not strong enough to influence brain activity.
...
Amongst those who received the strong magnetic dose, 32.8 per cent fewer had decreased beliefs in God, angels and heaven compared to the control group who received no dose.
I'm not quite sure what this means. Is it actually saying that more people in the control group had decreased beliefs in God, angels and heaven? That's how it reads to me.
I am also curious about this:
Presumably not everyone's belief in God is altered by being confronted with the threat of death. It would be interesting to measure which of the tested people's belief in God is altered by such a threat; and then compare that to the people whose belief decreases after the dose of TMS. I wonder what the overlap would be.