Religion under the PET scan
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01-01-2011, 03:39 PM
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Religion under the PET scan
A few weeks ago I read an article in the newspaper (a quality newspaper) that they did some experiments with religious people under the pet scanner. They asked them some personal questions and personal opinions. Then they measured what part of the brain on these people became active. then they asked them some questions about religion and the opinion of their god on that mater. Turns out it activates the same zone's in the brain.
Did anyone hear about this experiment? I can't seem to find it anymore. Debunked? Observer Agnostic atheist Secular humanist Emotional rationalist Disclaimer: Don’t mix the personal opinion above with the absolute and objective truth. Remember to think for yourself. Thank you. |
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01-01-2011, 04:11 PM
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RE: Religion under the PET scan
(01-01-2011 03:39 PM)The_observer Wrote: A few weeks ago I read an article in the newspaper (a quality newspaper) that they did some experiments with religious people under the pet scanner. They asked them some personal questions and personal opinions. Then they measured what part of the brain on these people became active. then they asked them some questions about religion and the opinion of their god on that mater. Turns out it activates the same zone's in the brain. idk about that but I read an article in my local paper that said when religious people talked about their god parts of the brain responsible for higher thought process were less active. Hey brother christian, with your high and mighty errand, your actions speak so loud, I can't hear a word you're saying. "This machine kills fascists..." "Well this machine kills commies!" |
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01-01-2011, 06:29 PM
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RE: Religion under the PET scan
Quote:Brain scans reveal that the parts of the brain we use to process religious belief evolved most recently and give us sophisticated cognitionNew Scientist, 3/14/2009, Vol. 201 Issue 2699, p11-11; , 1p I also found an article that shows praying to God is like talking to a friend in a believer's mind. |
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01-01-2011, 08:06 PM
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RE: Religion under the PET scan
Good article. Thanks for sharing. This reminds me a bit of a lecture I watched a while back on YouTube that dealt with the evolutionary formulation of religion. I'll see if I can find it.
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02-01-2011, 12:08 AM
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RE: Religion under the PET scan
So that is why some people can have a relationship with god. Their brains act as if they are talking to a friend when they believe they are talking to god. Similar things happen in other situations. In extreme peril many people report feeling a presence beside them when there is no one there. This is hard to test because of the ethics of putting people in extreme peril for testing purposes. There is also the phantom limb syndrome where people will claim to have sensations in a limb that they lost (I lost my right arm in an accident but sometimes my right elbow itches, but it isn't there). The phantom limb syndrome happens because an unused part of the brain (right arm control) starts picking up signals from another part of the body controlled by an adjacent brain part (left cheek). Left cheek gets itchy, person may feel the itch in their right arm. This has been well studied, though my explanation is very basic.
When I find myself in times of trouble, Richard Dawkins comes to me, speaking words of reason, now I see, now I see. |
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