Disabling parts of the brain with magnets can weaken faith in God and change attitudes to immigrants

[SecularMotion]

By shutting down the threat-processing centre of the brain, scientists weakened people's faith in God and made them less prejudiced

A joint team of American and British scientists have discovered that powerful magnetic pulses to the brain can temporarily change people's feelings on a variety of subjects - from their belief in God, to their attitude to immigration.

The study, published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, saw scientists use a metal coil to create strong magnetic fields around certain parts of the brain.

The non-invasive practice is called trancranial magnetic stimulation, and has can be used to treat depression.

However, researchers have now found that by targeting the part of the brain that deals with threats, they can temporarily change people's beliefs and views.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/brain-magnets-decrease-faith-in-god-religion-immigrants-a6695291.html

[randys1]

1. Makes perfect sense. I am watching vile, filthy, disgusting puke FUCKS in MY US House

treat Hillary Clinton like shit because they can.

No real men in the GOP, from what I can see.

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. This is fascinating.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Right up to the point the police figure out how to weaponize it.

[Agnosticsherbet]

5. It is fascinating because it adds knowledge about the human consciousness, the brain, and what makes

us what we are.

Knowledge doesn't frighten me enough to stop me from celebrating it.

[Nitram]

4. Right wingers rule by scaring people with ghosts and bboogeymen of their own making.

Remove baseless fear and you become a Democrat.

[rug]

6. Hmm, "disabling parts of the brain" leads to nonbelief . . . .

[Adsos Letter]

7. !

[Warren Stupidity]

10. Hmmm fearful people are religious bigots.

Yes that also was not a valid implication derived from the research.

[rug]

13. Glad you agree with the original inference.

Now, what do you think causes anti-religious bigots?

[Brettongarcia]

14. Science?"

[rug]

15. Since bigotry is based on ignorance, you have a low view of science.

Last edited Wed Oct 28, 2015, 09:02 AM - Edit history (1)

[Brettongarcia]

16. Unless your example of "Bigotry" really isn't that

There does seem to be scientific data here, correlating religion and fear.

[rug]

17. Do you say there is not anti-religious bigotry and there are not anti-religious bigots?

[Brettongarcia]

18. Why

Why do you choose to make accusations of anti religious bigotry, in precisely the very moment it is least in evidence? When simple, strong scientific evidence, not bias, is being presented.

Obviously you are desperately, fearfully, trying a diversionary technique.

[rug]

19. If it were an accsation, you'd know it. It's a question of you.

Do you or do younot believe there is anti-religious bigotry and ant-religious bigots?

[Brettongarcia]

21. Your question is an off-topic diversion

Your question is ultimately an important one. But rather than taking in too many big questions at once, the usual method in science and rational discussion, is to take on smaller, solvable questions, or parts of the bigger picture.

So? The specific implied question in this particular posting, is roughly this, say: what should we now say, when science proves religion is based on brain states? And especially, on fear.

The bigger question is important. But suppose we take it one piece at a time

[sammythecat]

22. I guess I could be called an anti-religious bigot

when it comes to the evangelicals, and my "bigotry", if that's what you choose to call it, is caused by fear. They genuinely scare me.

[AtheistCrusader]

23. Aw, misled by the media interpretation of the study are we?

Guess what. The same sort of transrcranial magnetic probes can render a person unable to lie.

I think the correlation to turning off religious faith is highly revealing.



Another brick in the wall of my growing suspicion that none of you actually believe at all. Not really.

[goldent]

24. Who needs all of their brain anyhow?

[struggle4progress]

8. I have a theory that hitting people in the head with hammers

decreases their altruistic tendencies

This really has the potential to completely change our ideas about altruism!

I'm still trying to get funding

[cleanhippie]

11. Have you tried preliminary experiments on yourself?

That's where you should start.

[struggle4progress]

12. I don't want to bias the results

[Yorktown]

9. the seat of religious emotions is that which is linked to epilepsy

It might mean religion is some kind of mental disorder, after all.

[Jim__]

20. I'm not quite sure how to read this.

The team, comprised of scientists from the University of York and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), used 39 politically moderate students as test subjects.

The two were split into two groups - one, the control group, was given a sham dose of magnetism that was not strong enough to influence brain activity.

...

Amongst those who received the strong magnetic dose, 32.8 per cent fewer had decreased beliefs in God, angels and heaven compared to the control group who received no dose.

Amongst those who received the strong magnetic dose, 32.8 per cent fewer had decreased beliefs in God, angels and heaven compared to the control group who received no dose.

I'm not quite sure what this means. Is it actually saying that more people in the control group had decreased beliefs in God, angels and heaven? That's how it reads to me.

I am also curious about this:

Before receiving their doses of TMS, both groups were asked about their own deaths. In this area, the tests built on previous studies, which have shown that being confronted with the threat of death can alter a person's belief in God.

Presumably not everyone's belief in God is altered by being confronted with the threat of death. It would be interesting to measure which of the tested people's belief in God is altered by such a threat; and then compare that to the people whose belief decreases after the dose of TMS. I wonder what the overlap would be.