Why God Won’t Go Away -- Are we hard-wired for God?

[Guest guest]

A food for thought........for all the religious/scientific brains,

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Why God Won't Go Away

By the end of the eighteenth century, when Higher Criticism and the scientific

method began to captivate the human mind, the intellectual elite assumed that

religion soon would vanish. However, two hundred years later, the concept of God

and the primal stories of religion remain with us and, in many instances, appear

to be gaining in strength. We humans remain in thrall to spiritual mythologies,

to those symbolic commentaries that arise from the unchanging depths of our

minds.

In his neurological research, Dr. Newberg considers this question: why would the

forces of natural selection, which gave the human brain its inexpressible powers

of logical observation and rational analysis—all shaped toward the serious,

pragmatic goal of keeping us alive—allow that very same organ to place such

fundamental hope and trust in strange, unlikely myths? In answer, Dr. Newberg

contends that the very neural architecture of our brains allows us no other

option. We are myth-makers in our blood, compelled to explain the world in terms

of gods and monsters, compelled by the mind’s deepest will to survive.

In this lecture—based upon his book of the same title—Dr. Newberg discusses his

research in brain function and neuroimaging, specifically his high-tech

investigation of the brains of meditating Buddhists and Franciscan nuns at

prayer. Illuminating the chain of neurological events that are triggered by

intensely focused spiritual contemplation, Dr. Newberg places these objectively

observed phenomenon side-by-side with our ineradicable drive to make myths,

proposing that the religious impulse is coded into the biology of our brains.

While neuroscience cannot confirm nor dispute the existence of God, it can help

us understand why God will not go away so easily

Are we " hard-wired " for God?

The term " hard-wired " suggests that we were purposefully designed that way.

Neuroscience cannot answer the question of purposeful design. However, what we

can say is that the brain has two primary functions that can be considered from

either a biological or evolutionary perspective. These two functions are

self-maintenance and self-transcendence. The brain performs both of these

functions throughout our lives. It turns out that religion also performs these

two same functions. So, from the brain's perspective, religion is a wonderful

tool because religion helps the brain perform its primary functions. Unless the

human brain undergoes some fundamental change in its function, religion and God

will be here for a very long time.

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In this age of science, of rigorous rationality, why will God not go away? Why

do human beings—even the most sophisticated and highly educated—cling

persistently to those fantastic beliefs which the basic assumptions of science

assure us simply cannot be? What accounts for the tenacity of religion? Why the

human hunger for the very sort of insubstantial mystical irrationalism that

science was supposed to cure?

The answer, proposes Dr. Newberg, may be found in the very nature of our

minds, in the neurological architecture of our brains. Our brains may, in fact,

be naturally calibrated to spirituality. While acknowledging that neuroscience

cannot unravel the puzzle that perpetually entrances the human psyche—did God

create our minds or did our minds create God?—Dr. Newberg does maintain that

neuroscience can elucidate the nature of mystical experiences, their importance

in human evolution, and why the abiding need for a concept of God is imperative

for the survival of the human species.

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More info about the brain scans above

http://www.andrewnewberg.com/pet1b.asp

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Moving beyond the study of specific disorders, Dr. Newberg’s research now

largely focuses on how brain function is associated with various mental

states—in particular, the relationship between brain function and mystical or

religious experiences. The results and implications of this research are

delineated in Dr. Newberg’s book Why God Won’t Go Away (Ballantine/Random

House).

More info about the brain scans abovehttp://www.andrewnewberg.com/pet2b.asp

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Dr. Newberg has presented his research at national and international scientific

and religious meetings; his numerous published articles and chapters cover the

topics of brain function, brain imaging, and the study of religious and mystical

experiences.

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Newberg, MD, is Director of Clinical Nuclear Medicine, Director of

NeuroPET Research, and Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology at the

Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is Board-certified in Internal

Medicine, Nuclear Medicine, and Nuclear Cardiology.

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