Science and God

Posted on | September 7, 2008 | 2 Comments

They are going to fire up the Large Hadron Collider over in Switzerland this week.

Most all of the news I’ve heard about this involves speculation, put forth by some, that when they crank up the old collider, a black hole will develop over Geneva and the Earth and mankind will sucked into it. Unwittingly, when I heard this on the radio coming home from the gig in the wee hours, a lyric from the Dire Straits song, “Industrial Disease” came to mind.

“Two of them say they’re Jesus, one of them must be wrong”

This morning I found a very interesting piece in The Economist.

The first task of CERN’s new machine, the Large Hadron Collider, which is due to open later this year, will be to search for the Higgs boson—an object that has been dubbed, with a certain amount of hyperbole, the God particle.

The article concentrates on a separate research project concerning religion.

“Explaining Religion”, as the project is known, is the largest-ever scientific study of the subject. It began last September, will run for three years, and involves scholars from 14 universities and a range of disciplines from psychology to economics. And it is merely the latest manifestation of a growing tendency for science to poke its nose into the God business.

Rather than proving/disproving the existence of God, a lot of the research is dedicated to studying the effects of religion on society and group evolution. However, some of the experimenting delves in to neurological realm.

Nina Azari, a neuroscientist at the University of Hawaii at Hilo who also has a doctorate in theology, has looked at the brains of religious people. She used positron emission tomography (PET) to measure brain activity in six fundamentalist Christians and six non-religious (though not atheist) controls. The Christians all said that reciting the first verse of the 23rd psalm helped them enter a religious state of mind, so both groups were scanned in six different sets of circumstances: while reading the first verse of the 23rd psalm, while reciting it out loud, while reading a happy story (a well-known German children’s rhyme), while reciting that story out loud, while reading a neutral text (how to use a calling card) and while at rest.

Dr Azari was expecting to see activity in the limbic systems of the Christians when they recited the psalm. Previous research had suggested that this part of the brain (which regulates emotion) is an important centre of religious activity. In fact what happened was increased activity in three areas of the frontal and parietal cortex, some of which are better known for their involvement in rational thought. The control group did not show activity in these parts of their brains when listening to the psalm. And, intriguingly, the only thing that triggered limbic activity in either group was reading the happy story.

That’s interesting; when religious people think religion, they have increased activity in the rational thought part of the brain. That is sure to get a lot of rational thinkers’ collective dander up.

Evolutionary biologists tend to be atheists, and most would be surprised if the scientific investigation of religion did not end up supporting their point of view. But if a propensity to religious behaviour really is an evolved trait, then they have talked themselves into a position where they cannot benefit from it, much as a sceptic cannot benefit from the placebo effect of homeopathy. Maybe, therefore, it is God who will have the last laugh after all—whether He actually exists or not.

While you ponder that, you might wish to take a look at this; Rory Gallagher doing a neat version of “I Could Have Had Religion” from 1972. Rory on Tele, nice.

As always, shout Hallelujah! while simultaneously pressing pause on the music player located in the side bar before playing the YouTube.

Comments

2 Responses to “Science and God”

Pat Darnell and Friends
September 7th, 2008 @ 11:58 am

Rory is Super Cool in this video, great find. His song here really gets me going, no kidding.
Pat Darnell and Friends
September 8th, 2008 @ 3:38 am

To me, this Quantum Shot Swiss story says something about the improving situation at Pribek.net marketing in the face of hostile odds, dying labels and tumbling stacks.

Well said Stosh!! I never know which type of stuff is going to push your piston… stimulate your quantum shot, or stipple the creative cow… but remember Hawking claims that information is not lost when particles change states — mass to energy. So if we are to be put in a black hole, at least the songs will survive.

somewhere else you say: “bring it to me instead of me having to go look for it” scenario in which he gets paid for being a performer as well as reaping the benefit of the next middlin’ thing.

BTW — I agree with Ovidiu on your final decision to go ahead and send out the “first of many we hope” singlettes downloadables. Truly, a good delivery for thee, as the “Have Swinging Richard: Will Travel” persona… no? It makes the enterprise bigger than all the others… no competition.

Then you say somewhere else: “From the git-go, hucksters have sought the “can’t miss” story/ personality/ image/ look — as their value added proposition.. Anything but music; because, it’s easier to sell than music. Music isn’t secondary, it’s a loss leader.

I believe what you say is dead nuts true, your blogs will tell the story, as the songs begin to move around. A truly sponger-riffic marketing venue!

Finally you summarize: “if the world were populated by people who really love music, feel it in their souls, then there would be no need for the music business.”

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Science and God

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