thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
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 […]
Alex Rosenberg is a philosopher and an atheist. He was one of those participating in the Moving Naturalism Forwards workshop, so he is apparently well-respected by his fellow atheists. I previously blogged about his thinking in Atheism: reality or illusion …. or both? In 2011 Rosenberg published a book, The Atheist’s Guide to Reality: Enjoying […]
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, […]
Last post I looked at how UK psychologist, Susan Blackmore, has changed her previous view that religion is like a virus of the mind, in contrast to some other high profile atheists, but in accordance with the evidence. She also had some interesting (to me, at any rate) thoughts about God.
Susan Blackmore is a British psychologist, well known because of her journalism. She is an atheist, practices Zen Buddhism, and has had particular interests in parapsychology, memes and the science of the mind. In recent years she has exasperated some of her fellow atheists by changing her views on the idea that religion is a […]
In recent years social psychologists have been studying religion extensively, finding what personality types are more likely to be religious and what effects religious beliefs have on a range of behaviours, including health, happiness, altruism and motivations. A recent study compared christians and atheists – using responses on Twitter.
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 […]
Persecution and death threats in their home countries lead many Afghanis, Sri Lankans and others to seek to enter Australia as refugees. Many attempt the often perilous journey to Australia by crowded boat. Many die in the attempt, but most are found to be genuine refugees. We can assimilate these people without too much difficulty, […]