Atheism Uses Less Brain Function

Jodie

Philosopher
Jodie
Joined
May 7, 2012
Messages
6,231
https://americanvision.org/12630/atheists-embarrassed-study-proves-atheism-uses-less-brain-function/

"This has to be embarrassing . . . if you’re an atheist. A new study performed at the University of York used targeted magnetism to shut down part of the brain. The result: belief in God disappeared among more than 30 percent of participants.

That in itself may not seem so embarrassing, but consider that the specific part of the brain they frazzled was the posterior medial frontal cortex—the part associated with detecting and solving problems, i.e., reasoning and logic."

I'm not a Christian but I do consider myself to be a spiritual person. I rarely find conflict with my spiritual beliefs and science which I equate as a method that uses logic and reasoning to draw real world conclusions. That said, I hate the way this person twisted the conclusions of this study. Neurology is more complicated than defining spiritual and logical thought as one area of the brain does this and another area of the brain does that kind of mindset. What's your opinion?
 
Last edited:
Jodie said:
What's your opinion?
Click to expand...

Brains are complex.

Brains are complex and the measurements we do on them capture different things at different scales. All the way from single neurons firing to large lumps of tissue, to the conversation we had with mom last night. It's hard to say what each sort of measurement really captures of the overall picture.

In my opinion, this measurement problem is fundamental and we must take great care in assigning meaningful attributes based on those things we can measure.
 
Yes, I don't think that you can rely on only one neural pathway or network to develop critical thinking skills. When people have strokes, some more severe than others, those that make the best recoveries exercise their brains in various ways to develop other ways of solving the same problems or compensating.

One neighbor of mine lost her ability to speak after a stroke. Before she had her stroke, she was active in her church and sang in the choir. I encouraged her to continue to practice singing, amazingly, she regained her ability to speak much more quickly than the docs predicted as a result of exercising her musical ability.

I think the author of the article read what he wanted to read into that research. I'ld have to go back and read the original research to see what limitations they identified in their study before commenting specifically on how they drew their conclusions.
 
Last edited:
well, my brain function has definitely declined significantly since I abandoned my religious beliefs over the past decade or so. Course, I attribute that decline mainly to the consumption of large quantities of beer. :blush:
 
Here's a Science Daily article about the study: Belief in God and prejudice reduced by directing magnetic energy into the brain

The scientists say that whether we're trying to clamber over a fallen tree that we find in our path, find solace in religion, or resolve issues related to immigration, our brains are using the same basic mental machinery.
Click to expand...


I'd be interested in studies that examine the differences in this region between, say, atheists and theists. It seems unlikely that atheists have statistically significant problems hiking through the woods compared to theists, but that's implied by the author of the American Vision article linked in the OP.

Well, sort of... The author gets around that awkwardness by claiming that this study proves atheists are significantly less logical and reasonable, not less able to climb over fallen tree trunks. He also seems to completely ignore the part about prejudice, unintentionally implying that prejudice is a sign of more logical and reasonable brain function. His doesn't seem to be a reasonable interpretation, all things considered.
 
Last edited:
Why bother with the commentary when you can read the original paper:

http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0kj9w0km#page-1

I couldn't find the essay the subjects were told to read though...
at any rate, the way I read it the paper's conclusion sare if anything the exact opposite of what the americanvision article was arguing.
If you're confronted with death and you basically use god/afterlife as a coping mechanism, I don't think that makes you any brighter than one who deals with the situation in a more rational way.
 
And my other thoughts were that the amount of " brains" used doesn't necessarily indicate anything good, bad, or indifferent about the coping mechanism or approach one chooses to take in problem solving.
 
Jodie said:
https://americanvision.org/12630/atheists-embarrassed-study-proves-atheism-uses-less-brain-function/

"This has to be embarrassing . . . if you’re an atheist. A new study performed at the University of York used targeted magnetism to shut down part of the brain. The result: belief in God disappeared among more than 30 percent of participants.

That in itself may not seem so embarrassing, but consider that the specific part of the brain they frazzled was the posterior medial frontal cortex—the part associated with detecting and solving problems, i.e., reasoning and logic."

I'm not a Christian but I do consider myself to be a spiritual person. I rarely find conflict with my spiritual beliefs and science which I equate as a method that uses logic and reasoning to draw real world conclusions. That said, I hate the way this person twisted the conclusions of this study. Neurology is more complicated than defining spiritual and logical thought as one area of the brain does this and another area of the brain does that kind of mindset. What's your opinion?
Click to expand...

Article bby one Dr. Joel McDurmon, Ph.D. Ph.D. in theology, who would have thunk.

Her is his doctoral thesis from 2012. http://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/28381

Yup, he actually wants to restore Mosaic laws snd penalties as civil law. He really is that nutty.
 
LSD research revealed a location/function within the brain that has been labeled the "God module." I can confirm my personal experience that LSD can, in fact, stimulate various senses of "divine presence" or religious significance. Reports I've read on the studies also observe activation of the "God module" can happen during some forms of seizure, which also suggests that stimulation of a particular location or function in the brain is connected with the mental sensation of religiousness.

None of this provides independent corroborative evidence for the actual existence of any god or gods, but in fact add evidence that God or gods and all senses of "religiousness" we experience are a form of hallucination.
 
Last edited:
Makes perfect sense actually, We don't engage in the constant mental gymnastics the believers do, less brain stress.
 
SusanB-M1 said:
What aspects of your life would you say come under your heading of yourself as a spiritual person?
Click to expand...

I don't think you can separate that out, either you do or you don't think there is more to physical life here on earth. Personally, I think everyone has a spark in them that belongs to a unified whole, not a personal god like most religions preach. I don't think that using certain portions of your brain has anything to do with whether you are a theist or an atheist. Belief or disbelief is based on a multitude of factors such as experience, culture, or personal inclination all of which would be a synthesis of using many areas of the brain IMO.
 
Last edited:
I took a look at the original study. There were grand total of 38 participants.

'Nuff said.
 
abaddon said:
Article bby one Dr. Joel McDurmon, Ph.D. Ph.D. in theology, who would have thunk.

Her is his doctoral thesis from 2012. http://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/28381

Yup, he actually wants to restore Mosaic laws snd penalties as civil law. He really is that nutty.
Click to expand...
Ah, Christian Reconstructionism, the nutty fringe that even the usual evangelical xian loons try to ignore because it says openly what they want.

McDurmon works for American Vision the people who want seek "the execution of abortionists and parents who hire them", plus homosexuals, non-xians, the wrong sort of xians (idolators) et cetera. He personally has described the murder of homosexuals as "perfectly normal".
 
catsmate said:
Ah, Christian Reconstructionism, the nutty fringe that even the usual evangelical xian loons try to ignore because it says openly what they want.

McDurmon works for American Vision the people who want seek "the execution of abortionists and parents who hire them", plus homosexuals, non-xians, the wrong sort of xians (idolators) et cetera. He personally has described the murder of homosexuals as "perfectly normal".
Click to expand...

Apparently, his predecessor in American Lack Of Vision was even more extreme.
 
I'm having a hard time believing they could measure said reductions in god beliefs and prejudices with some simple evaluation tools.

And how do you come up with a % change?

Something about this report screams bad methodology is almost a given.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom