or the power of meditation, or hypnosis, or placebos?
There seems to be something to them.
2007-10-15 15:16:15 · 32 answers · asked by JWill 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Not me Chee, but that it "works" in the lives of those praying.
2007-10-15 15:18:38 · update #1
joann: recent studies show that the effect on the one praying or meditating is the same.
2007-10-15 15:21:23 · update #2
No, I don't believe in prayer. Placebos are sometimes effective, and sometimes they are not, but they have nothing to do with prayer.
2007-10-15 15:19:21 · answer #1 · answered by atheist 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
These are all different things. By the way, I'm talking off the cuff here, so take this all with a grain of salt.
Prayer- yes. While it may not have an effect upon the Universe, it does however have a beneficial effect on your personal well-being, simply through the fact that it can make you feel better (which has been shown to aid in physical well-being). You can always pray to something other then God, for instance, you could pray reverence towards the natural world.
(Also, some claim that human thought DOES have an effect on the universe. While this probably is not true, it would, however, not require there to be a higher-power: there are theories that quantum-physics would allow for such psychic phenomena, and it could be an ability that evolved. However, this is very speculative and most scientists do not see any evidence for it.)
Meditation- Certainly. While I find it difficult to practice myself, there is absolutely nothing about meditation that would make it contradictory with not believing in a higher power/force. It allows you to sort through your thoughts and calm yourself. In fact, I would say that, for an atheist, meditation COULD BE a way of prayer.
Hypnosis- Don't know. It seems to have honest-to-goodness measurable effects, and I know psychiatrists and psychologists use it.
Placebos- Of course. The placebo effect is well established and has nothing to do with a belief in god.
Interesting question.
2007-10-15 15:32:41 · answer #2 · answered by devmorg1 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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2016-12-20 19:50:24 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, I do not believe in the power of prayer, meditation, hypnosis or placebos. Positive thinking can help tremendously in healing, etc., but it has been scientifically proven in several studies that prayer and meditation do NOTHING to aid in healing.
2007-10-15 15:26:33 · answer #4 · answered by Rogue Scrapbooker 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Meditation doesn't require a belief in anything metaphysical to be beneficial. If nothing else, it has the benefit of being relaxing.
Hypnosis is bunk and only "works" because people can put themselves into a trance-like state.
The placebo effect is a well documented scientific phenomenon.
Prayer is only effective in the same manner as described above. It has nothing to do with God.
2007-10-15 15:23:14 · answer #5 · answered by Pull My Finger 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not an atheist myself, but I believe that atheists can find positive results from the act of praying even it is only perceived as praying by an atheist.
One can appeal to the more scientific aspects of the act of praying - or biofeedback. I don't have hard facts to back this up at the moment, but I believe that there are beneficial results observed in brain scans of people who practice genuine meditation and prayer. Biofeedback is the science of using knowledge about one's body to help influence the thoughts of your mind to further influence your body. Basically, once you know how your body is reacting to something, you can feed that information back into yourself to try and consciously (or maybe even subconsciously) use that information to influence the state of your mind and body.
When described this way, the idea of meditation or prayer does not have to be in conflict with the underlying tenets of atheism.
There's plenty of research on biofeedback. Hope this helps a little.
2007-10-15 15:22:15 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Prayer? No. Meditation/Hypnosis? Possibly...it seems to work for many people to put them in a calm state of mind. But I dont' think it has any supernatural effects.
2007-10-15 15:21:00 · answer #7 · answered by Uliju 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Meditation helps me relieve a headache; doesn't help my daughter-she has "migraines" I've been told that I can't be hypnotized because "I have a mind of my own." I pray for people who have a heavier cross to bear than I do, not for myself, unless I need to improve on something about myself. I try not to let the past eat up today. Hospitals are now venturing into "total body healing" focusing on "mind, body, and spirit." And there is that place in the scriptures where we are told to just "be still." We can control our thoughts,(emotions) and if we focus on the positive, nothing but good can come from it. Unless we lose HOPE.
2007-10-15 16:05:29 · answer #8 · answered by dotell 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hypnosis is a demonstrable phenomenon as are the affects of placebos. Prayer on the other hand is not.
2007-10-15 15:22:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well if you control out the placebo effect, prayer has been experimentally shown not to work at all: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html?ex=1301461200&en=4acf338be4900000&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
However, the placebo effect is very real and has been shown to work. That is why you need to try very hard to make a control group in such a way that you account for it.
2007-10-15 15:21:33 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
there have been many studies of whether prayer affects things, all coming out with: NOPE
also i do believe that meditation is a good way to relax and clear the mind...... that hypnosis can help with some problems..... and so on.... but i believe they all have a scientific explanation for being able to do this.
2007-10-15 15:20:09 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋