Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Lots of scientfic facts there, Madadora.
You know your stuff.
So, you would say we evolved to a higher conscieness to the point that we think and believe there is a God?
If do, where did that idea come from?
Religion grew from the ignorance of primitive people who could not understand the world around them. Our earliest homo sapiens relatives looked at the rising and setting of the sun, natural events like hurricanes, volcanoes, blizzards, etc., life and death, stars, and just about every thing else in the natural world and was confused and bewildered; however the start of religion predates recorded history.
Quote:
Originally Posted by look3467
It doesn't make sense to me. Just speculation.
Exactly what makes no sense to you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by look3467
How do you explain a personal Devine experience?
This is simply a property of being a living creature possessing the property of brain plasticity. People from all walks of life and different religious and spiritual backgrounds and practices have experienced what you are calling a "Devine" [sic] experience.
When a person focuses their attention on anything intently it activates their frontal lobe, at the same time the parietal lobe shuts down. This lobe is responsible for taking our sensory information and creating a sense of our self and how we relate to the world. While undergoing whatever spiritual experience people are having...scans on the brain during this time show that the parietal lobe experiences a decrease in blood flow and with this decrease in activity of the parietal lobe people loose their sense of space and time around them. This is what explains that experience.
Also we see different areas of the brain being activated depending on the practice. For example Buddhists Monks who focused their attention on the image of a sacred object activated their visual centers. Nuns who were praying activated their language centers. People who were "speaking in tongues" showed a decrease in activity in their frontal lobe which makes sense for what they believe is happening to them. They believe that they are being overcome by the experience and allowing it to happen and the result is that they shut down their willful attention so they can allow this particular experience to happen. Brain scan studies supports what they are describing is happening to them. However they interpret this experience as the spirit of "god" moving through them. Since there is no evidence of this what we can see is the changes in the brain during this experience which can explain why a person is feeling what they are claiming.
The way that our brain is put together makes it very easy for us to have these types of experiences and for us to engage them fairly easily. It makes sense right? Our brains are wired for these experiences...it would not make sense for our brains to be wired for a disconnect to an invisible "god" or unseen energies that exist all around us. If our brains were not wired this way people would have no way of ever having any communication with their invisible "god" nor could people develop strong intuition and sense unseen energy around them. There was a TED Talk that I posted long ago of brain scans showing meditation can actually change the size of key regions of our brain, improving our memory and making us more empathetic, compassionate, and resilient under stress. You don't have to be a religious person to experience these so called "Divine" experiences.
It makes sense that there is a variety of experiences because not everyone's ability to concentrate their attention is equal. For example those who practice deep mediation, their ability to concentrate is much higher than most other people who don't practice deep mediation. However, everyone has some sort of experience in their life where they've felt something that has made them feel as if they've had what you call a "Divine" experience.
There are some really good recent studies out there that demonstrate that people who are not religious and who pick up a practice such as chanting a mantra or learning how to meditate show profound changes in their brains only after 8 weeks of practice. This shows how easily our brains can be shaped in such a short time to have these types of experiences that religious folks deem as having a "Divine" experience.
Any mental practice that one routinely engages in is going impact changes in your brain that lead to these experiences.
Having these experiences is simply a property of being an animal species possessing a brain that is wired to allow us to easily have these experiences. It makes sense as to why religion and spiritual ideas have been around since the dawn of civilization.
I highly recommend this book: Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us About Spirituality
How does the brain function during prayer, meditation, and trance states? Andrew Newberg has conducted hundreds of brain scans of people during these “enlightened” states and found unique patterns of brain activity. He has surveyed 2,000 people to find the essential elements of the enlightenment experience. With these findings, Andrew aims to help people find their own enlightenment, an experience that can radically change and improve your life.
Mat we see that you can post links and cut and paste other people's ideas.
However it appears that you can't tell the difference between animals and humans, that you are unable to distinguish and articulate in your own words what sets humans apart from animals.
Mat we see that you can post links and cut and paste other people's ideas.
However it appears that you can't tell the difference between animals and humans, that you are unable to distinguish and articulate in your own words what sets humans apart from animals.
Maybe you ought to stop harping on what you see as a major victory (which it's not) and give it a rest. Matt isn't going to say the words you want him to say.
Mat we see that you can post links and cut and paste other people's ideas.
Exactly what "idea" have I cut and pasted? I posted the emerging discoveries that neuroscience has uncovered and I used my wording and no one else's.
I am always researching what's new in science and I will always post about it if it relates to religion and spiritual topics so get used to it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel
However it appears that you can't tell the difference between animals and humans, that you are unable to distinguish and articulate in your own words what sets humans apart from animals.
This is settled science and I'm not the one having the issue understanding it. You are.
Maybe you ought to stop harping on what you see as a major victory (which it's not) and give it a rest. Matt isn't going to say the words you want him to say.
I find people who are not scientifically literate to be some of the most antagonistic angry minds on this earth. They just don't get it. In fact I know many other animal species that show more intelligence, love and kindness than this harping poster.
BTW I'm a she I posted a photo of me and my Monk friend in the Atheist thread not too long ago. I used to have an actual profile photo but I started picking up stalkers LOL!
How does the brain function during prayer, meditation, and trance states? Andrew Newberg has conducted hundreds of brain scans of people during these “enlightened” states and found unique patterns of brain activity. He has surveyed 2,000 people to find the essential elements of the enlightenment experience. With these findings, Andrew aims to help people find their own enlightenment, an experience that can radically change and improve your life.
Reporting the findings of science is crucial to promoting a realistic understanding of reality. But when it proceeds from the typical scientific premise that there is NO purpose or design to what is discovered, it commits a great disservice to enlightenment. It is okay to prefer to believe that, but to preclude purpose or design prevents seeing the implications of what is discovered and drawing reasonable inferences from them. It is the subtle anti-Theist bias that prevents certain inferences from ever being drawn in the mistaken name of objectivity. For example, the tendency of brain states to be responsive to external EM fields by producing experiences of "oneness" or a "presence" or "out-of-body" experiences has scant evolutionary precursors or purposes for such a capability. The evidence that brain states can alter our life experience dramatically by internally evoked changes through dedicated and purposeful devout prayer, ritual or meditation practice suggests that it is an inherent capability for a reason. Just saying.
I find people who are not scientifically literate to be some of the most antagonistic angry minds on this earth. They just don't get it. In fact I know many other animal species that show more intelligence, love and kindness than this harping poster.
BTW I'm a she I posted a photo of me and my Monk friend in the Atheist thread not too long ago. I used to have an actual profile photo but I started picking up stalkers LOL!
Oops! I thought he was just after a different Matt! My mistake.
Exactly what "idea" have I cut and pasted? I posted the emerging discoveries that neuroscience has uncovered and I used my wording and no one else's.
I am always researching what's new in science and I will always post about it if it relates to religion and spiritual topics so get used to it.
This is settled science and I'm not the one having the issue understanding it. You are.
It is not " settled" science.
Its not a science question.
Scientism yes, but that's not science.
it's a question for Mat, or anyone else, and there seem to be several, who appears not to know the difference, is unable to make the distinction, unable to distinguish and articulate what sets humans apart from animals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 303Guy
Ok, so explain to us what that distinction is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel
that is the homework for anyone who does not know the difference, can't distinguish the difference, can't articulate the difference.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tzaphkiel
However it appears that you can't tell the difference between animals and humans, that you are unable to distinguish and articulate in your own words what sets humans apart from animals.
Yet when I ask you what the distinction is you give me homework. Do you know what the distinguishes us from the 'animals'.
I've pointed out that you are a mammal and what makes you a mammal. Mammals are animals. So that settles that - you are an animal, by definition. We know what the common use for the word 'animal' is, but it's wrong. It's like the word theory.
Would you like me to articulate the difference between humans and other animals? Mammals in particular. The most outstanding difference is our sexual habits. We are the only species that has recreational sex. We are the horniest creature on earth! Well, Ok, bonobos have recreational sex too, so we're not even all that special in that regard.
Further than that, we make and wear clothes. We have well developed speech (although whales and dolphins do too but not to the same extent). We build homes but then so do birds, ants, termites, beavers, spiders etc. Heck, termites even have air conditioning in their homes.
We have compassion and live in communities but then so do many many other animals.
Can you add something actually unique to humans?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I posted a photo of me and my Monk friend in the Atheist thread not too long ago. I used to have an actual profile photo but I started picking up stalkers LOL! 
