Belief and the brain's 'God spot'

[SedesDomi]

A belief in God is deeply embedded in the human brain, which is programmed for religious experiences, according to a study that analyses why religion is a universal human feature that has encompassed all cultures throughout history.

Scientists searching for the neural “God spot”, which is supposed to control religious belief, believe that there is not just one but several areas of the brain that form the biological foundations of religious belief.

The researchers said their findings support the idea that the brain has evolved to be sensitive to any form of belief that improves the chances of survival, which could explain why a belief in God and the supernatural became so widespread in human evolutionary history.
…
The latest study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, involved analysing the brains of volunteers, who had been asked to think about religious and moral problems and questions. For the analysis, the researchers used a functional magnetic-resonance imaging machine, which can identify the most energetically-active regions of the brain.

They found that people of different religious persuasions and beliefs, as well as atheists, all tended to use the same electrical circuits in the brain to solve a perceived moral conundrum – and the same circuits were used when religiously-inclined people dealt with issues related to God.

The study found that several areas of the brain are involved in religious belief, one within the frontal lobes of the cortex – which are unique to humans – and another in the more evolutionary-ancient regions deeper inside the brain, which humans share with apes and other primates, Professor Grafman said.

“There is nothing unique about religious belief in these brain structures. Religion doesn’t have a ‘God spot’ as such, instead it’s embedded in a whole range of other belief systems in the brain that we use everyday,” Professor Grafman said.

 

[Eucharisted]

ROFL

 

[Oreoracle]

But they’re wrong; religious belief does not generally improve one’s chance of survival. It makes no sense that we would have evolved in such a way.

 

[Shike]

This is all besides the point, unless the article was the point, that is… errr well…
What is more interesting than how we got the beliefs in our head is whether or not the content claims are indeed true. I don’t care if aliens implanted beliefs in our heads (actually, that would be scary), I just want to know what’s true.

peace,
Michael

 

[06convert]

That’s interesting. They are suggesting that we desire so greatly to survive that we are willing to do anything including fabricating the idea of eternal life.

I’m reminded of last week when I was in Florida and I was chasing around a Gecko. He was very scared, his instinct was to run in order to preserve his life. The Gecko also desires greatly to survive, otherwise he wouldn’t of ran. So does the Gecko also believe in eternal life? I think not.

Also, I’m pretty sure that there are plenty of people out there that want to survive, but do not believe in religion at all.

Aside from all that eternal life is a gift from God. A gift that I thank Him for. However, If the only reason for someone to worship God is so that they won’t die, then that is pretty selfish.

 

[Tiago_Paolini]

The researchers said their findings support the idea that the brain has evolved to be sensitive to any form of belief that improves the chances of survival, which could explain why a belief in God and the supernatural became so widespread in human evolutionary history.

If belief existed because it would improve the chances of survival, then the Christian faith would have died in its first days because the first Christians were so widely persecuted by the strongest empire that the world ever knew (the Roman Empire). Siding with the empire is what actually would improve the chance of survival of the first Christians, but they don’t and the empire has fallen while the Catholic Church not.

And we have also to consider other prosecutions through the History, like from the barbarians, illuminists, communists, nazis, other totalitarians etc… Having religious beliefs can be pretty bad to one’s chances of survival… Yet religious beliefs exist, so the hyphotesis of “religion exists because it improves chances of survival” is flawed.

Best regards,
Tiago

 

[geometer]

If belief existed because it would improve the chances of survival, then the Christian faith would have died in its first days because the first Christians were so widely persecuted by the strongest empire that the world ever knew (the Roman Empire). Siding with the empire is what actually would improve the chance of survival of the first Christians, but they don’t and the empire has fallen while the Catholic Church not.

And we have also to consider other prosecutions through the History, like from the barbarians, illuminists, communists, nazis, other totalitarians etc… Having religious beliefs can be pretty bad to one’s chances of survival… Yet religious beliefs exist, so the hyphotesis of “religion exists because it improves chances of survival” is flawed.

The Roman empire had less survival value, evidently.

 

[Daedelus76]

That’s interesting. They are suggesting that we desire so greatly to survive that we are willing to do anything including fabricating the idea of eternal life. …
…Aside from all that eternal life is a gift from God. A gift that I thank Him for. However, If the only reason for someone to worship God is so that they won’t die, then that is pretty selfish.

Not to mention, not all religions are based on subjective immortality.

Parts of the brain, areas in the frontal lobes, that control the sense of self are involved in religious experiences, wheather theistic or otherwise. If anything, religion seems to be “undoing” structures that have evolved to enhance survival.

 

[Charlemagne_II]

Is there any evidence that the brain neural patterns of Christians and Atheists are decidedly different? If so, is the difference determined by the brain’s chemistry, by environmental factors (including personal history), or by poor digestion?

 

[graceandglory]

SedesDomi:
I have often wondered about this.
Being a teacher and having studied the brain and how our brain’s synapses make connections that become more or less permanent ways of thinking and doing; and that the synapses themselves are biological and organic, it would seem that a Christian brain would actually be biologically different than a non-believer’s brain.

I am not a scientist, this is just something I have wondered about.

 

[graceandglory]

Is there any evidence that the brain neural patterns of Christians and Atheists are decidedly different?

If not today, I bet there will be in the future. The study of microbiology blows my mind. How we can know what is inside of a cell to me is mind-boggling…(Also the hardest class I have ever taken, microbiology nearly kept me from my degree )