thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
Scientific studies have suggested that religious belief (regardless of whether it is true or not) has many social and personal benefits, but may encourage more sexist attitudes and a lesser degree of openness to others. Some recent studies have looked at the association of religion with prejudice.
We all like to think we are thoughtful, rational people. In our modern scientific world, it has become an ideal. To label someone as ‘irrational’ is a severe insult. But have we taken this ideal a little too far?
My post on Your brain, faith and disbelief generated some critical comment. The problem wasn’t so much with the main point of the post (that neuroplasticity appears to explain some of why believers and unbelievers are so polarised about God) but a side comment that there are demonstrated mental and physical health advantages in belief […]
Last post I looked at recent discoveries in neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to restructure itself under certain circumstances. If we focus on some particular way of thinking, our brain can restructure itself to facilitate that thinking, but make us less able to think differently. Thus it appears that both believers and non-believers may make […]
How can believers and unbelievers disagree so strongly? We all experience the same world, we have the same information from science and history. If it was anything else but religious belief, you might expect opinions to be a little less polarised. But highly educated people like Richard Dawkins and William Lane Craig disagree profoundly even […]
I have commented before that discussions between atheists and christians, on the internet at least, seem to be mostly unproductive at best and downright nasty at worst (Atheists vs christians: does it have to be war?.) It seems no-one is listening and a lot of the ‘discussion’ is more name-calling than information exchange. So it […]
We are all conscious when we are awake. We observe, feel emotions, react, and form memories. But how does the brain do this? What is the relationship between our brain and our conscious mind? You might think this isn’t a very interesting or important question, but it is one of the most important questions today, […]
Religious people would like to think that their belief makes them happier and healthier. But is there any evidence of this? I have trawled the internet and found there is a growing interest in this subject. I have found more than 30 medical research papers or books, most of them from the past decade. They […]
I came across some interesting comments today – about the history and future of western civilisation. I thought they were worth sharing.
It’s a feel-good story that’s been doing the rounds, but it bears repeating. A potentially nasty situation defused by a simple act of friendliness.