Scientific studies showing the effect of religion? (believe, delusion, Buddhist)
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The results shows that “Intercessory prayer had no effect on recovery from surgery without complications.” and “Patients who knew they were receiving intercessory prayer fared worse.” Essentially, telling a patient "I'll pray for you" was a detriment to their recovery.
I really appreciated this study as it was double-blind, had a large sample size, and was extremely scientific. I was wondering if there were any other great studies around religion and it's effect.
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Most I have seen essentially say the same thing as what you referenced... believing in invisible supernatural beings has not affect other than your mindset, which can result in you being inhumane to your fellow man.
... active and positive spiritual belief changes the human brain for the better. What's more, actual faith isn't always necessary: atheists who meditate on positive imagery can obtain similar neurological benefits.
I suspect another editor has suggested an improved title. The effect of meditation whether sitting cross -legged concentrating on breathing, contemplating a Holy Icon or listening to a Bach fugue can do all that. 'God' has nothing to do with it.
You guys nailed it. No magic needed but possibly a positive focal point. "a person" is an ok one I guess. "The placebo effect" may work for some. It may give them something tangle to hold onto. I think aligning Mind, body, and spirit is not an invalid approach to healing.
You guys nailed it. No magic needed but possibly a positive focal point. "a person" is an ok one I guess. "The placebo effect" may work for some. It may give them something tangle to hold onto. I think aligning Mind, body, and spirit is not an invalid approach to healing.
No, it isn't and I can understand that believing...whatever method one prefers (I'd go for Theravada Buddhist meditation myself) can enhance the efficacy more than just believing that it works.
The point is really that the effect does not validate one religion more than another and that I would rather have a less potent meditation experience just doing Vipassana than actually get dragged into buying into any particular religion.
Yes. The OP link has a list of comment - links, and they mainly seemed to deal with possible complications caused by intercessionary prayer (by others, that is) on cardiac patients. I don't want to leap to premature conclusions however.
In his book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins discusses one of these studies at length - and he also discusses the excuses used by believers to explained away the results they did not like.
In his book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins discusses one of these studies at length - and he also discusses the excuses used by believers to explained away the results they did not like.
I read his book and honestly wasn't impressed. He just isn't a great philosophical mind.
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