THE ORIGIN OF RELIGION - BEN'S BLOG

Is Mind/Body Dualism a fact?

12/1/2019

Dualism is a philosophy that posits mental phenomena are non-physical and that the mind is distinct and separable from physical constraints.

Consciousness (the mind) exists independently of physical reality (the material brain). If that is the case, one must explain how the non-material mind (consciousness) can affect physical reality.

Paul Churchland, at the University of California’s Institute for Neural Computation, made the observation that, in cases of brain damage caused by accidents, drugs or mental disease, consciousness and awareness can be extensively changed. If the mind is separate and immaterial, how can it be changed by material causes? How could there be material damage an immaterial entity?

Many patients who have had damage to their brains have exhibited permanent changes in their minds, indications that there is a correlation between mental states and brain states.

Another problem with mind / body dualism is that, if the mind can exist independent of the physical realm, how does one explain the creation and retention of physical memory? How can something material interact with something that is immaterial?

Any action by a non-physical mind on the brain would be a violation of conservation of energy. In neuroscience experiments, brain scans have uncovered brain activity up to 10 seconds before an actual activity is carried out. This is strong evidence that cognitive processes have a physical basis in the brain. Human beings begin their existence as a totally physical and material entity. There is nothing mentalistic or nonmaterial involved in conception. Research and observations strongly indicate that the mind is created in the brain and cannot exist without a material brain.

There is some new and interesting research on the effects of mind altering substances such as dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which indicates strongly that material brain changes caused by hallucinatory drugs could explain consciousness. We will report on that in another blog.

^ Churchland, Paul (1988) Matter and Consciousness, Revised Edition, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
^ Lycan, William (1996) "Philosophy of Mind" in The Blackwell Companion to Philosophy, ed. Nicholas Bunnin and E. P. Tsui-James, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
^ Dehaene, Stanislas (2002). The Cognitive Neuroscience of Consciousness. MIT. p. 4.

The Purpose of Life

10/8/2019

Several times I have seen posts asking the question “What is the purpose of life?” The answers have ranged from “no purpose” to many varied, and sometimes very lengthy, definitions but none of them made any sense to me and when reading the many comments, the answers did not make much sense to many others.

Why does this question arise in the first place? Do we, as an insignificant organism, want to be important? If we study the well-accepted theory of evolution, humans seem to be a fluke of nature. That is one of the reasons many theists, despite the overwhelming evidence provided by evolution, cannot accept it.

Many people are looking for the significance of, and the reason why, we are here. The development of life through natural means seems impossible because of the enormous odds. The universe is so enormous and beyond our understanding, while time is counted in billions of years. Life defies the odds. We have won that lottery because we are here. Remember, no matter how large the odds in a lottery, one can win tomorrow.

When we consider the “purpose of life” question we must take into consideration the fact that more than 90 percent of the life forms that have ever existed have gone extinct. Humans will eventually go extinct as well, some predicting within a hundred years, others predicting another large meteorite, such as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, will do the trick or when the sun goes nova. Thus, we are in a temporary situation but for what purpose?

So I would like you to revisit the question “What is the purpose of human life?” but, before you do, you must answer the question ”What was the purpose of the dinosaurs’ lives?” Think hard about it.

NDE Research

9/23/2019

In an article by Robert Martone, a research scientist and expert in neurodegeneration, describes a new study which compared the stories of 625 individuals who reported their NDE experiences with stories of 15000 individuals who had taken one of 165 different psychoactive drugs. When analyzed many similarities were found between near-death reports and drug experiences. The drug Ketamine especially led to these similarities.

Both these groups had many experiences in common, such as feeling it as a real experience, a bright light at the end of the tunnel, floating away from and looking at your own body, meeting departed family members, and an exciting and intense feeling of peace, loss of fear of death and feeling of being a part of something universal. This suggests that NDEs reflect changes in the brain on approaching death.

In many cultures, the use of psychoactive drugs was part of religious practice. NDEs are probably based in brain biology, although it is near impossible to detect what changes take place in the brain during an NDE, we can compare by linguistic analysis the NDE reports with these drug-induced hallucinations.

By researching many NDE stories, collected over many years and comparing them a with the large experience anecdotes found in the Erowid Experience Vaults, a collection of first-hand descriptions with drugs they found remarkable similarities. While many psychoactive drugs were tried the highest comparison were with the hallucinogen Ketamine. Other drugs, such as LSD and DMT showed similar experiences.

DMT is found in South American plants but is also made in the brain, leading to the speculation that endogenous DMT might explain NDEs. Future research will show if this conclusion is correct but the researchers suggest that NDEs have such a lasting effect, Ketamine could be used to induce an NDE like state in terminal ill patients. To relieve anxiety about death. The research is continuing so stay tuned.

Science Discoveries Prove God Exists?

8/26/2019

A YouTube video had a Dr. Stephen Meyer appear on the John Ankerberg show under the title “The Four Great Discoveries of Modern Science That Prove God Exists.” Nearly a quarter million people saw this show. Dr. Meyer explained that the first great discovery was that the universe had a beginning. The second was that space and time had a beginning as well and that they must have a cause beyond the universe itself. (Notice the use of the word “must,” an expression used by many theists, without justification). The third “proof” is the fine-tuning of the laws of the universe itself to make the universe habitable to life and the fourth discovery is the complexity of DNA.

Fred Burnham, a physicist, obviously a member of the “God did it” crowd, which often uses this “conclusion" when science is still looking for answers, stated “the God hypothesis is now a more persuasive and respectable hypothesis than at anytime in the last 100 years.” This has often been an automatic reaction, when new scientific discoveries were made, only to be dropped later, when more discoveries invalidated hasty conclusions.
The latest theory, however, is that the Big Bang, although the beginning of our currently observable universe, is not the beginning of the universe but a phase change and that the cause might be a form of black matter and black energy existing before the Big Bang and not a mythical magician.

Go to:
https://medium.com/swlh/new-study-suggests-dark-matter-predates-the-big-bang-but-what-does-that-actually-mean-cc3d359a8989
So back to the drawing board, theists.

The argument about “fine tuning” has been discussed endlessly. Our universe is 99.99999………% hostile to life and always in motion. Over 90% of all life-forms on earth have gone extinct in the past. The present life forms are exposed to disasters, calamities, illnesses and mis-formed offspring and we could be wiped out by a large meteorite at any time. So much for fine-tuning.
As far as the complexity of the DNA is concerned, it is argued that enormous odds make it impossible for it to be formed by chance. That is a deliberate misunderstanding of odds. A lottery with 10,000,000 odds to one does not need 10,000,000 draws to be won. We know a winner could be drawn anytime. One could win tomorrow. No matter how big the odds in our immense universe, where every millisecond trillions and trillions of atoms build molecules, the enormous possibilities are still following the same law as the lotteries where the winner could be lucky tomorrow. We don’t know if we are the only lucky winner in the universe but we know that, in spite of the enormous odds, we won, because we are here.

Verifying Sources

8/4/2019

When using references, universal resource locators (URLs), copy and paste material and even memes, to bolster one’s arguments, it is important that one thoroughly research the trustworthiness of the sources being used. The web and even magazines and books are rife with misleading and biased material. Material content from a respected and trustworthy magazine, such as Scientific American, is more reliable than information from a sensational publication such as Worldnewsdailyreport. During a debate about whether an afterlife exists, I received a link to this website which claimed that German researchers had discovered proof of life after death. The article mentioned the researchers from a respected German University. It was well written and sounded scientific. When I looked up the website Worldnewsdailyreport.com, I discovered, in small letters under the website’s logo, the disclaimer “where facts don’t matter” (look it up). This publication thrives on ridiculous stories to amuse the public.

If an advertisement of a health product claims that “this wonderful cure has been hidden from you by big pharma,” you can be sure that snake-oil salesmen are at work. Claims mentioning that “recent research has discovered….” without references to a peer reviewed and published paper, with the names and credentials of the researchers, should be ignored, even if names and universities are mentioned. Check whether they are real.

Although Wikipedia is not always correct, it is a great place to start checking for scientists, universities and subject matter. Wikipedia always has a great list of references of publications and research papers so you can delve deeper into the subject you are researching or checking which makes the quest for reliability so much easier. Checking and verifying your sources is a real pain but, if you want to have credibility, it is a must.

When you are in a debate and you reject someone’s argument, make sure that you back up your rejection with logic and facts. I find that many commentators simply reject ideas without providing logical answers as to why a particular assertion is wrong. This is not acceptable in any civil debate and, although tempting, avoid ad hominem statements.

YouTube and the web are, in my humble perspective, over 80% not trustworthy. Some are very clever and it takes a real effort to dig deep enough for reliable material. But we must take a real effort to do so.

Why believe God exists

7/9/2019

Let’s face reality. God does not exist and I will tell you why I came to that conclusion. I am not trying to be an authority or arrogant, just logical. Every religion believes that its God is the only “real” one. If there was any God whatsoever, then it is only logical that the God would simply make known his/her/its existence in an unequivocal manner which, for an almighty and intelligent deity, would be easy to do.

It is illogical to think that any such deity would send out different messages, through a variety of holy scriptures and using different messengers, to make its existence into a guessing game, resulting in competitive religions whose adherents hate and kill each other. Consequently, it is illogical to believe that any god exists.

I have written and re-written this several times hoping that it is clear what I am getting at and trying to avoid misunderstandings. What I am trying to convey is that no God, having interest in each of our personal lives, would have promoted such a competition throughout the history of humankind. What purpose or objective would be accomplished by creating a competitive, yet obscure, set of conflicting identities? Competing versions of a single God make no logical sense and do not benefit anyone. And for what purpose would a deity wish to be obscure and deceitful if the goal is to ensure that religious believers adhere to its dictates?

Now my big request. If you agree with this logic, please do check off the “LIKE” button, even more important, the “SHARE” button. It will be nice and also important to reach many, many people. I wish that it was possible to reach all people, but that’s unfortunately not reality.
Those who have a LOGICAL explanation and are certain that I am wrong, please respond but do not bother using your holy scriptures or useless statements such as “We cannot understand the mind of (my) God.”

The Lazarus Syndrome

6/19/2019

In an article written by Honor Whiteman in “Medical News Today” (May 26, 2017) describes the experience of Janina Kolkiewics, 91 yrs. old, who was declared clinically dead. Eleven hours later she woke up in the hospital’s mortuary. In 2014 a 78-year-old man from Mississippi was declared dead and woke up the next day in a body bag at the morgue. That same year a woman was declared dead as the result of a drug overdose, woke up when she was taken to the operation room to harvest her organs. There have been over thirty such cases reported.

These cases are called ”Lazarus Syndrome” after the Bible’s Lazarus of Bethany. Lazarus syndrome is extremely rare. There are several theories about the cause of these seeming resurrections. Catalepsy, Hypothermia and Locked-in syndrome, as well as neural disorders, such as Epilepsy and Parkinson disease, are suspected. In locked-in syndrome, a patient is aware of their surroundings but they experience complete paralysis of voluntary muscles The Daily Mail reported in 2014 about a 39-year-old female who had Locked-in syndrome. The doctors declared her brain dead and she heard them discussion with her family whether to turn off her life support, while she could not tell them that she was fully conscious.

The fact that such cases do occur and aren’t always recognized brings into question whether the current clinical definition of brain death is sufficient enough to avoid dreadful mistakes and should be revised. There are suggestions that death should not be certified immediately after stopping CPR. But a suitable time should be allowed to see whether ROSC (Return Of Spontaneous Circulation) occurs.

This phenomenon might also play a part in NDEs, (Near Death Experiences) when upon return of the circulation it gives rise to feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, the presence of light and meeting Beings of light, are experienced, followed by other hallucinations and dreams before waking up.

The fact that Brain Death can be declared and certified of patients with the Lazarus Syndrome is disturbing but hopefully avoidable.

Gedankenexperiment?

5/6/2019

Let’s think this through. For the purpose of this discussion, assume that the supernatural world and God both exist. When I use the word “God” in this post, it means the Christian God, Allah, Yahweh, Brahma, or any other God you believe in; I will assume that you are convinced that this God is the one true God. We will discuss the possibility of an afterlife in your religion.

I started this train of thinking when my mother suffered for 9 years and eventually died from, Alzheimer’s, a dreadful, dreadful disease. Alzheimer’s can only be diagnosed positively by an autopsy after death which can then distinguish it from different dementias which are suffered by other, mostly older, people. We will discuss Alzheimer’s only.

What our family observed was the slowly deterioration of her cognitive abilities, her awareness and, at the later stages, her consciousness, a direct result of the slowly dying brain. I read as much as I could find about this dreaded disease, including many of the neuroscience publications, trying to understand what was happening. The literature explained that consciousness and awareness are brain-functions that are totally dependent on a healthy material brain. When the brain dies, consciousness and awareness die with it. In other dementias, lost functions are sometimes restored but not in Alzheimer’s. In the end, my mother was totally unaware and unconscious. My mother was a devoted Christian and my family is sure she resides in heaven.

By observing that awareness and memory, need a living material brain and confirmation of this from my readings in neuroscience, for an example, https://medium.com/@guglielm/zapping-elderly-brains-with-electricity-improves-short-term-memory-for-almost-an-hour-4ec861eab47 it seems to me that it is immaterial whether God or the supernatural world exist, since someone without a functioning material brain won’t be aware of either of them as the brain dies. Restoring awareness and memory in an unproven nonmaterial medium, is just another unwarranted conclusion unsupported by evidence.

The questions arising from my observations are many. Consider a copy made of the data in my mother’s brain in an unknown medium at a time before she contracted the disease. What would happen to her experiences after that point? In the supernatural world, would she have a gap in her memories of her life on earth? In that case, why did she have to live through her earthly life at all? There is also the dubious question of being a copy. If we ever are able to copy our brain data into a machine or other body, the copy would think it was you, but you would know that it isn’t you. So, who would be the “real” you?
There are other major problems with the conception of an afterlife. Do mentally defective persons become whole after death? If so, why were they born defective? Do babies, when they die young, grow up in heaven even though they had no later earthly experiences? In that case, they are the lucky ones since they will be spared the troubles of an earthy life. Or do babies remain as babies for eternity?

So an afterlife does not make sense. I know I’ll get back comments such as “We cannot understand God’s will” and “we are not intelligent enough to understand his ways.” Of course, such answers beg the questions “Why do we have the capacity to question and contemplate his (God’s) actions?” and “Why do we have different gods?” I want to know the answer to these questions. I will be listening but please refrain from stating that I am ‘barking up the wrong tree’ without explaining why. And please refrain from quoting scripture out of holy books, which, as I experience time after time, is usually out of context, they won’t be taken seriously. I expect some well reasoned logical discussion.

Please “share” with as many people as you can, since I need as many opinions as I can gather. I will be listening.

Is Religion a Delusion?

4/21/2019

When looking at the symptoms of Delusion Disorder (DD), as outlined by Alistair Munro in his book Delusional Disorder (Cambridge University Press), a number of claims can be made, including the following claims:

1-It (DD) is a primary disorder.
2-It (DD) is a stable disorder characterized by the presence of delusions to which the patient clings with extraordinary tenacity.
3-DD is a chronic and frequently lifelong disorder.
4-The delusions associated with DD are logically constructed and internally consistent.
5-The delusions associated with DD do not interfere with general logical reasoning, although (within the delusional system) the logic is perverted.
6-There is generally no effect on behavior. When disturbed behavior occurs, it is directly related to the delusions associated with DD.
7-Individuals with delusional disorder (DD) experience heightened self-reference. Insignificant events (for others) are, for the individuals afflicted with DD, of enormous significance creating a highly-charged atmosphere around the delusions.

One difficulty with the diagnosis of DD is that almost all of these features can be found in "normal" beliefs. Many religious beliefs hold exactly the same features. (R.D. Laing)

If one proposes that religion is a delusion, the objection has been that it couldn’t possibly be true because it would mean that the majority of people are delusional, since the major portion of the human population belongs to one religion or another. So it seemed to be an untenable hypothesis.

In an article in Scientific American (a well-respected magazine in the science community), written by Dana G. Smith, on March 1, 2019, psychiatrist Randolph Nesse, one of the founders of evolutionary medicine, explained: “Why Natural Selection did not get rid of our species’ onerous psychiatric disorders.” Since approximately 20 percent of Americans suffer from mental disorders and while 50 percent will be having mental problems during their lifetime, Nesse states that “these high rates are caused by natural selection and are not influenced by our emotional well being.”
This was selected for during our species’ long evolutionary adaptation. However, mental disorders are now maladaptive; they are not advantages any more in our quickly changing modern mental landscape.

It is, therefore, possible that many humans are susceptible to delusions since they were useful during natural selection and in the survival of the human race by giving humans and our hominid ancestors the strength to face a cruel nature with all its perils. Rituals to solicit mighty gods were one way to feel we could have some influence on those natural forces. We now know what these natural forces are and how to deal with, predict and mitigate them.

It is, therefore, most likely that religion is a delusional disorder and that it is widespread. The strength off this delusion might be weak or strong depending on the individual. Since we have inherited genes, which have the tendency to form delusions, it will be very difficult to totally erase the religion delusions.

Why Believe?

3/11/2019

What puzzles me greatly, is why so many people, with a good education and great learning skills, buy into the delusion of religions. I can understand that great philosophers in the past when the actual knowledge of the reality of nature was much more limited than it is now, tried to explain the world around us, since the urge to discover, what is behind the horizon, seems to be an inherited drive that has been of a great advantage during evolution. We know so much more now that we can understand why the ancient suppositions are not tenable anymore.
The urge to influence an unpredictable nature rather than feeling helpless created gods, in some religions many gods, each master of a part of nature and in the major religions today one god, master of everything, which led to the invention of rituals which could influence the happenings in the real world, such as offerings, prayer and idolatry.
Today, however, when we have so much more knowledge and have so many answers why cling to old myths and old morals that do not fit today’s society. Clinging to old superstitions and belief in the supernatural, without evidence seems illogical. We must never stop searching for more answers and we are doing that, at an exponential rate.
Why then are so many bright people still clinging to their religion is a puzzle to me. We are driven by a strong desire to discover more and more, but perhaps it is also driven by the inborn emotion of fear of the unknown. Fear is a powerful motivator, which has been also a very successful emotion, during evolution. We will always make speculations about the unknown until we find an answer. We will always have a wish to know what lies ahead, a tendency that is very financially rewarding for psychics, who pretend to have the power to predict the future and religions which allays the fear of death or the promise of eternal life.
This is the end of my rambling, today. I expect a strong reaction, hopefully, a civil discussion, of constructive criticism, from which we can all learn.