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Brain shuts off in response to healer's prayer?
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627574.200...
"Parts of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices, which play key roles in vigilance and scepticism when judging the truth and importance of what people say, were deactivated when the subjects listened to a supposed healer."
Apparently it only works on people that believe in "the power of prayer."
One of the scientists involved in the project said "that this explains why certain individuals can gain influence over others, and [he] concludes that their ability to do so depends heavily on preconceived notions of their authority and trustworthiness."
What are the implications for American politics, considering the important role played by the religious right and the influence their religious leaders have over the rank and file?
It would be interesting to see if primarily secular leaders like President Obama can have the same effect on the brains of their supporters, but as yet the effect has only been shown to occur in the brains of pentecostal Christians- the ones who believe in speaking in tongues and what not. So the speculation about liberals (other than pentecostal liberals if there are any) is entirely irrelevant to the question.
7 Answers
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
Who would have thought that wishfully thinking to yourself would cause brain damage?
- PfoLv 71 decade ago
... you make a mistake in assuming that only religion has this effect. Anytime a person is predisposed to trust another, you will find this same pattern in the brain, where the part that tends to be skeptical stops working, because the person trusts the authority.
What you are talking about is what trust is from the perspective of how the brain works.
Your "citation" is a blatant lie, also in the article:
"It's not clear whether the results extend beyond religious leaders, but Schjødt speculates that brain regions may be deactivated in a similar way in response to doctors, parents and politicians."
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Metaphorically speaking, it has always been true that faith can serve as an alternative to thought. I'm not bashing the faithful, but there it is. Saying "God told me to" is much easier than intelligently examining such complicated issues as euthanasia, global waring or gay marriage.
What puzzles me is why thinking Republicans bother with the Christian right to begin with. They will all vote Republican no matter what (based on their socially conservative nature). And by aligning with them politically, the GOP turns off anyone under the age of 50. Again, the sub 50 crowd might have faith... but they see the hypocrisy behind claiming to be for "small govt" while legislating morality. Whats Christian about dabbling in politics as a means of imposing your personal views on the people?
- apeman605Lv 71 decade ago
If the religious right had that much influence, BHO would still be the Junior Senator from Illinois. Right?
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- 1 decade ago
brainwashing and indoctrination from a young age is a very dangerous thing
- Anonymous1 decade ago
This tells me not 1 liberal brain is on when obama speaks