Scientists have established a link between brain damage and religious fundamentalism

[bodecea]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/scientists-established-link-brain-damage-religious-fundamentalism/

Let me be clear. I am in no way saying that religious people are neurologically impaired and, this is in no way intended to disparage religion or the religious. However, what is being said here is that there is a link between brain functioning and religious extremism whether it be Christians, Muslims or anyone else.

Let us begin:

A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

Here is a link to the abstract https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28392301

We continue:

Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherence to the rules of society among individuals within the group.

There is much more that all should read. It should also be not that the idea of a neuropsychological component to religious furor is nothing new.

https://www.skepticink.com/gps/2015/04/03/albert-ellis-and-the-case-against-religion/


Ellis wrote, and it resonates with me:

In a sense, the religious person must have no real views of his own; and it is presumptuous of him, in fact, to have any. In regard to sex-love affairs, to marriage and family relations, to business, to politics, and to virtually everything else that is important in his life, he must try to discover what his god and his clergy would like him to do; and he must primarily do their bidding.

He goes on……

Democracy, permissiveness, and the acceptance of human fallibility are quite alien to the real religionist—since he can only believe that the creeds and commands of his particular deity should, ought, and must be obeyed, and that anyone who disobeys the is patently a knave.

and

Religion, then, by setting up absolute, god-given standards, must make you self-deprecating and dehumanized when you err; and must lead you to despise and dehumanize others when they act badly. This kind of absolutistic, perfectionistic thinking is the prime creator of the two most corroding of human emotions: anxiety and hostility.

This all explains a lot!!

Makes total sense.

 

[ding]

[

You mean extremist, not fundamentalist dimwit.

An extremist is a fundamentalist IMO...and vice versa...

You should know. You are one.

 

[Dr Grump]

[
You should know. You are one.

Honestly, I'm more 'bleh' than anything....

 

[ding]

[
You should know. You are one.

Honestly, I'm more 'bleh' than anything....

I'd hate to see the more extreme version.

 

[zaangalewa]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/scientists-established-link-brain-damage-religious-fundamentalism/

Let me be clear. I am in no way saying that religious people are neurologically impaired and, this is in no way intended to disparage religion or the religious. However, what is being said here is that there is a link between brain functioning and religious extremism whether it be Christians, Muslims or anyone else. ...

I do not even read such a brainwashing bullshit. To think atheists would not be extremists and others suffer brain defects is more than only crazy. And to misuse science in such a context is more than only stupid.

 

[Lysistrata]

This all explains a lot!!

In other words, PP, how far not to go from someone who has never left.

Put another way, I don't take advice on car repair from people who've never worked on one, I don't take investment advice from a poor person, and I certainly don't listen to the opinions of atheist scientists on religion tell me how bad it is that have never had a spiritual experience in their own life! That's not good enough for ME, but don't let it stop YOU.

It is impossible for you to know whether a given scientist has decided that a Supreme Being does or does not exist or whether a given scientist as never personally had a "spiritual experience." Any person may be led to another set of conclusions than the ones that you have arrived at yourself

All religious beliefs are telegraphed from one human being, who assumes to know something about the supernatural realm, to others down through the ages. Just because a given sect confers some sort of a title on a particular person doesn't make that person any wiser about things that we can't know about. This is why the term "theologian" really translates into "great speculator," and a claim by anyone that a person who disagrees with him or her "hates God" is the biggest pile of BS that ever was created.

 

[Dr Grump]

I'd hate to see the more extreme version.

What am I extreme on? I say live and let live. I won't try and prothelyise you to my POV, and you can do the same. How's that?

 

[ding]

I'd hate to see the more extreme version.

What am I extreme on? I say live and let live. I won't try and prothelyise you to my POV, and you can do the same. How's that?

Actions speak louder than words.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

The Left Wingers are trying to normalize their hatred for the Fundamentalist Christians.
They want people to feel OK with it and feel comfortable with it.
There is no shame in hating them because they are defective people....they are even brain damaged.....right?
The Nazis did the same sorts of things to the Jews.

 

[Dr Grump]

I'd hate to see the more extreme version.

What am I extreme on? I say live and let live. I won't try and prothelyise you to my POV, and you can do the same. How's that?

Actions speak louder than words.

Not really. I think everybody should be left alone to believe what they believe without being hassled by others. Sounds reasonable enough to me. Unless they're a peodophile or the like...

 

[Dr Grump]

The Left Wingers are trying to normalize their hatred for the Fundamentalist Christians.
They want people to feel OK with it and feel comfortable with it.
There is no shame in hating them because they are defective people....they are even brain damaged.....right?
The Nazis did the same sorts of things to the Jews.

Naw, us normals just want any fundie religious whacko to stop trying to make their beliefs the law of the land. You STFU and leave us normals alone, we leave you alone. Sounds reasonable to me...

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

The Left Wingers are trying to normalize their hatred for the Fundamentalist Christians.
They want people to feel OK with it and feel comfortable with it.
There is no shame in hating them because they are defective people....they are even brain damaged.....right?
The Nazis did the same sorts of things to the Jews.

Naw, us normals just want any fundie religious whacko to stop trying to make their beliefs the law of the land. You STFU and leave us normals alone, we leave you alone. Sounds reasonable to me...

Hey, thanks for helping prove the point

 

[tyroneweaver]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/scientists-established-link-brain-damage-religious-fundamentalism/

Let me be clear. I am in no way saying that religious people are neurologically impaired and, this is in no way intended to disparage religion or the religious. However, what is being said here is that there is a link between brain functioning and religious extremism whether it be Christians, Muslims or anyone else.

Let us begin:

A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

Here is a link to the abstract https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28392301

We continue:

Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherence to the rules of society among individuals within the group.

There is much more that all should read. It should also be not that the idea of a neuropsychological component to religious furor is nothing new.

https://www.skepticink.com/gps/2015/04/03/albert-ellis-and-the-case-against-religion/


Ellis wrote, and it resonates with me:

In a sense, the religious person must have no real views of his own; and it is presumptuous of him, in fact, to have any. In regard to sex-love affairs, to marriage and family relations, to business, to politics, and to virtually everything else that is important in his life, he must try to discover what his god and his clergy would like him to do; and he must primarily do their bidding.

He goes on……

Democracy, permissiveness, and the acceptance of human fallibility are quite alien to the real religionist—since he can only believe that the creeds and commands of his particular deity should, ought, and must be obeyed, and that anyone who disobeys the is patently a knave.

and

Religion, then, by setting up absolute, god-given standards, must make you self-deprecating and dehumanized when you err; and must lead you to despise and dehumanize others when they act badly. This kind of absolutistic, perfectionistic thinking is the prime creator of the two most corroding of human emotions: anxiety and hostility.

This all explains a lot!!

I think it a good point that the link is made between religious fundamentalism and brain damage. And to some extent it lets these people off the hook a bit, they have a physical abnormality that causes them to think and do the things that they do. Of course it then becomes the job of the rest of society to not take these groups seriously in public discourse or allow them to gain political power. Both of these are fails in the US where fundamentalism is ravenous for real political power over other people and many times attains that power. The founders saw this type of religious fanaticism in Europe for the centuries leading up to the creation of the US and they did their best to code a separation of church and state into US governance. The results are murky at best.

Right now we have a mentally challenged dangerous crazy in the White House because the fundamentalists threw out their 'morality' entirely and sided with this man who is one of the most immoral people we've ever seen run for office.

And the kicker as it always is, is that they have an excuse for all that they do, that somehow it is their 'god's will' for this cretin to be in power. Brain damage would explain it very well.

So when are you going to start bombing Salt Lake City.

 

[JohnPrewett]

IOW: Pagan society study reveals Pagans smart and Christians stupid.

 

[ding]

It seems us Catholics have it covered both ways.

 

[IsaacNewton]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/scientists-established-link-brain-damage-religious-fundamentalism/

Let me be clear. I am in no way saying that religious people are neurologically impaired and, this is in no way intended to disparage religion or the religious. However, what is being said here is that there is a link between brain functioning and religious extremism whether it be Christians, Muslims or anyone else.

Let us begin:

A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

Here is a link to the abstract https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28392301

We continue:

Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherence to the rules of society among individuals within the group.

There is much more that all should read. It should also be not that the idea of a neuropsychological component to religious furor is nothing new.

https://www.skepticink.com/gps/2015/04/03/albert-ellis-and-the-case-against-religion/


Ellis wrote, and it resonates with me:

In a sense, the religious person must have no real views of his own; and it is presumptuous of him, in fact, to have any. In regard to sex-love affairs, to marriage and family relations, to business, to politics, and to virtually everything else that is important in his life, he must try to discover what his god and his clergy would like him to do; and he must primarily do their bidding.

He goes on……

Democracy, permissiveness, and the acceptance of human fallibility are quite alien to the real religionist—since he can only believe that the creeds and commands of his particular deity should, ought, and must be obeyed, and that anyone who disobeys the is patently a knave.

and

Religion, then, by setting up absolute, god-given standards, must make you self-deprecating and dehumanized when you err; and must lead you to despise and dehumanize others when they act badly. This kind of absolutistic, perfectionistic thinking is the prime creator of the two most corroding of human emotions: anxiety and hostility.

This all explains a lot!!

I think it a good point that the link is made between religious fundamentalism and brain damage. And to some extent it lets these people off the hook a bit, they have a physical abnormality that causes them to think and do the things that they do. Of course it then becomes the job of the rest of society to not take these groups seriously in public discourse or allow them to gain political power. Both of these are fails in the US where fundamentalism is ravenous for real political power over other people and many times attains that power. The founders saw this type of religious fanaticism in Europe for the centuries leading up to the creation of the US and they did their best to code a separation of church and state into US governance. The results are murky at best.

Right now we have a mentally challenged dangerous crazy in the White House because the fundamentalists threw out their 'morality' entirely and sided with this man who is one of the most immoral people we've ever seen run for office.

And the kicker as it always is, is that they have an excuse for all that they do, that somehow it is their 'god's will' for this cretin to be in power. Brain damage would explain it very well.

So when are you going to start bombing Salt Lake City.

The bombs are always falling in your mind. Go hide in your bunker snowflake.

 

[ding]

The Left Wingers are trying to normalize their hatred for the Fundamentalist Christians.
They want people to feel OK with it and feel comfortable with it.
There is no shame in hating them because they are defective people....they are even brain damaged.....right?
The Nazis did the same sorts of things to the Jews.

Naw, us normals just want any fundie religious whacko to stop trying to make their beliefs the law of the land. You STFU and leave us normals alone, we leave you alone. Sounds reasonable to me...

So we should suspend our values so you can implement your morally relativistic values?

 

[tyroneweaver]

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/scientists-established-link-brain-damage-religious-fundamentalism/

Let me be clear. I am in no way saying that religious people are neurologically impaired and, this is in no way intended to disparage religion or the religious. However, what is being said here is that there is a link between brain functioning and religious extremism whether it be Christians, Muslims or anyone else.

Let us begin:

A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.

Here is a link to the abstract https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28392301

We continue:

Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherence to the rules of society among individuals within the group.

There is much more that all should read. It should also be not that the idea of a neuropsychological component to religious furor is nothing new.

https://www.skepticink.com/gps/2015/04/03/albert-ellis-and-the-case-against-religion/


Ellis wrote, and it resonates with me:

In a sense, the religious person must have no real views of his own; and it is presumptuous of him, in fact, to have any. In regard to sex-love affairs, to marriage and family relations, to business, to politics, and to virtually everything else that is important in his life, he must try to discover what his god and his clergy would like him to do; and he must primarily do their bidding.

He goes on……

Democracy, permissiveness, and the acceptance of human fallibility are quite alien to the real religionist—since he can only believe that the creeds and commands of his particular deity should, ought, and must be obeyed, and that anyone who disobeys the is patently a knave.

and

Religion, then, by setting up absolute, god-given standards, must make you self-deprecating and dehumanized when you err; and must lead you to despise and dehumanize others when they act badly. This kind of absolutistic, perfectionistic thinking is the prime creator of the two most corroding of human emotions: anxiety and hostility.

This all explains a lot!!

I think it a good point that the link is made between religious fundamentalism and brain damage. And to some extent it lets these people off the hook a bit, they have a physical abnormality that causes them to think and do the things that they do. Of course it then becomes the job of the rest of society to not take these groups seriously in public discourse or allow them to gain political power. Both of these are fails in the US where fundamentalism is ravenous for real political power over other people and many times attains that power. The founders saw this type of religious fanaticism in Europe for the centuries leading up to the creation of the US and they did their best to code a separation of church and state into US governance. The results are murky at best.

Right now we have a mentally challenged dangerous crazy in the White House because the fundamentalists threw out their 'morality' entirely and sided with this man who is one of the most immoral people we've ever seen run for office.

And the kicker as it always is, is that they have an excuse for all that they do, that somehow it is their 'god's will' for this cretin to be in power. Brain damage would explain it very well.

So when are you going to start bombing Salt Lake City.

The bombs are always falling in your mind. Go hide in your bunker snowflake.

Rivers Edge golf course has 16 bunkers on 18 holes, so I’m safe

 

[Dr Grump]

So we should suspend our values so you can implement your morally relativistic values?

Hell no. Keep your values. Just don't shove them down my throat. I'm not interested in any religion. You are? Good for you. Keep it to yourself and yours. I'll do the same. I don't need to be a Christian to know that killing somebody is wrong, or stealing from them is wrong. The laws that are written as such are for everybody in the land - not just Christians, Jews, Muslims - everyone.

 

[ding]

So we should suspend our values so you can implement your morally relativistic values?

Hell no. Keep your values. Just don't shove them down my throat. I'm not interested in any religion. You are? Good for you. Keep it to yourself and yours. I'll do the same. I don't need to be a Christian to know that killing somebody is wrong, or stealing from them is wrong. The laws that are written as such are for everybody in the land - not just Christians, Jews, Muslims - everyone.

How exactly am I shoving them down your throat?