Atheists would you ?

Question

Resent experiments have found an area of the brain, that when stimulated gives a sensation of religious ecstasy. If given the chance, would you volunteer to see what it is like?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/godonbrain.shtml

Answer 1

I would pass...I am perfectly happy just how I am now.

Answer 2

The same feelings have been induced via trance-like states by many who perceive altered consciousness.

This is often achieved through religious ceremony, but the same states can be achieved chemically (artificially stimulating the same areas in the brain), or through visual and audial signals of a repetitious nature that entrain trance-like brain signals.

In other words, you achieve the same effect going to a rave. And since the drugs are usually easier to find there than a church, it's probably easier to achieve the state there.

I have experienced such states before. I probably will again. But I'm not going to go out of my way to repeat them regularly.

Answer 3

I'm an atheist and would definitely be into volunteering for such an experiment. The thing is: what this investigation suggests is that religous feelings have an origin within the brain, and not from some external spiritual realm.
There's a similar article in this month's Scientific American.

Answer 4

There are also drugs that will induce simulated near-death experiences, with people perceiving that they've left their bodies, hover over themselves, see a white light and enter it, etc.

But that doesn't make the experience any more real than just subjective perception.

In fact, I've experienced a simulated NDE on numerous occasions. And yes, they were amazing.

But that doesn't mean that I think that there's actually a God or an afterlife simply because I had a hallucinatory experience.

Answer 5

Define religious Ecstasy first of all. Then compare and contrast to any other sensation and if it can be duplicated is said situations. After THAT come back and tell me if you can conclude that it is indeed ONLY feelings of religious Ecstasy.

You can't. It's impossible. Defining religious extasy is a personal definition. It could easily be described as something else to someone else.

Answer 6

This has been said many times, that there is a "God module" of the brain. A study found that this is NOT true.

http://www.livescience.com/health/060829_god_spot.html

I personally would not want people poking at my brain, unless it was medically necessary for me, but if you take a look at the URL I provided, you will see that there is no "God module", which was a ridiculous thing to begin with.

Answer 7

I believe there is a biological reason we tend to be superstitious. Fear can keep people out of danger, so we don't have the acute senses of other species but we are quite capable of scaring and delighting ourselves using nothing but our imaginations.

I would be interested in such an experiment.

Pantheist

Answer 8

Why would I volunteer to have someone tinker with my mind? I do not volunteer to take hallucinogens. There are all sorts of drugs out there that can cause all sorts of effects. I am not looking for a drug trip. I am not looking for a mental manipulation trip either.

Answer 9

Not sure I'd allow anyone to experiment on me. If I was going to I'd have them put in that little device where I can push a button and it sends pleasure. You know, the one where the monkeys did nothing but push the button until they starved to death.

Answer 10

Considering the very LONG list of drugs I took back in the day, as well as the revised version of that list that I still take, I'm sure that sensation is merely all in a days work for me-

but if I'm wrong, hook it up (hold the Jesus, please).

Answer 11

No thank you, been there done that, have the bibles on my shelf.

I prefer my enjoyments to come with less possible guilt and a lot of reality.

Edit:
that was an interesting article though. I'd like to see them get together with the "God Gene" researchers.