Evolution Question

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-03-22 12:42pm

Well, as some of you may know, i am a staunch evolutionist, but i was wondering, for those more enlightened than i, if other animals have a "god spot" in the brain as humans do? i would have thought they would have, but am not aware of experiments and so on in this direction.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2003-03-22 02:14pm

What is this "god spot?"

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-03-22 02:20pm

Rye wrote:Well, as some of you may know, i am a staunch evolutionist, but i was wondering, for those more enlightened than i, if other animals have a "god spot" in the brain as humans do? i would have thought they would have, but am not aware of experiments and so on in this direction.

god spot?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-03-22 02:22pm

Darth Yoshi wrote:What is this "god spot?"

Probably something like the g-spot for the religiously inclined.

UltraViolence83 · Post by **UltraViolence83** » 2003-03-22 02:49pm

It's a part of the brain that influences religious beliefs. Electrical stimulation of this area can give you simulated Nirvana. Sometimes people report seeing religious figures, tunnel of light, etc.

I'm not too familiar with animal brains, but I don't think they have this "god spot." If they did, I'm sure they would act more like us. Perhaps this area is a result of our powerful brains at work?

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-03-22 03:21pm

it's a part of the brain which it's thought causes pretty much all religious experience. I would have thought it would serve an evolutionary purpose from a social animal point of view as a tribe that is more spiritually inclined might have the edge over another in terms of how vehemently they fight, and how they would hope in a given apparently hopeless situation.
That's just my guess as to why it exists.

It's been found at cambridge university (i think) that when you stimulate it with electrical currents, or put it between a massive magnet, you can get religious experiences, depending on the amount of electricity etc, you can have the feeling of someone else in the room, the feeling of something greater, general spooky feelings, or a full blown feeling of oneness in the universe.

Temporal lobe epilepsy can cause a lot of these feelings too, and has been shown via cat scans that the "god spot" area to be extremely active during these fits.

It's often theorised that prophets of old were temporal lobe epileptics, but where it's come from i'm not sure, but i was wondering if anyone knew if similar experiments had been tried on animals to see if they have a religious leaning.

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-03-22 03:21pm

UltraViolence83 wrote:It's a part of the brain that influences religious beliefs. Electrical stimulation of this area can give you simulated Nirvana. Sometimes people report seeing religious figures, tunnel of light, etc.

Like I said, the g-spot for the religiously inclined.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-03-22 06:07pm

Except that it's not an extra function at all, but rather, an IMPAIRED function. Certain regions of the brain go DARK on CAT scans during moments of religious nirvana and spiritual experiences, specifically the regions that control higher-order rational thought and spatial orientation. This leads to the sensation of being vaguely disconnected from your physical body.

If other animals have it, they would suffer from the same impairment. This deficiency was not selected out of humans because we rely less on second-by-second, minute-by-minute awareness of our environment for survival than most animals do.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-03-22 08:37pm

so it's inaction eh? that's all very interesting...i wonder why it's there then, im tempted to say something along the lines of vorlon intervention, and i did.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-03-22 08:41pm

i found an article on temporal lobe epilepsy.
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/n ... Eguae.html

UltraViolence83 · Post by **UltraViolence83** » 2003-03-22 08:41pm

Thinking of myself as a fan of 'altered states of reality,' how is that necessarily an impairment in humans, if we don't need to be alert at all moments of consciousness? Seems more a perk.

Personally I'm still trying to shut down my rational areas during meditation so I can gleam reality in a different light, so to speak.

Actually I think something similiar happens to the brain doing the opposite of that. I go for walks about everyday and listen to my CD player whilst walking. Drowning out outside disturbances with the music, and walking thus to get my blood pumping, I notice I can think much more profoundly. Hell, much of the time I don't even remember where I walked. I'm being serious...while listening to certain music I get into a kind of "thinking trance," it's an almost mystical experience for me. Consequently, I think of music as something much more to me than just background noise. Not too long ago I read about an old occultic technique called "gnostic trance," of which description is close to what I go through.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-03-22 08:46pm

well, remember what humans see isnt everything that's there, it's our brain's interpretation of it, altering perception and thought is a really cool attribute that we've earned by being the dominant species on the planet. woo us!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-03-22 08:48pm

Rye wrote:well, remember what humans see isnt everything that's there, it's our brain's interpretation of it, altering perception and thought is a really cool attribute that we've earned by being the dominant species on the planet. woo us!

That's why scientists rely on instruments in order to measure anything. The brain is a horribly inconsistent device, with no calibration methodology available to us.

UltraViolence83 · Post by **UltraViolence83** » 2003-03-22 08:52pm

Too true. One cannot gain empirical evidence without unbaised, unthinking instruments. One person's view of reality is almost always different from another's in some way.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-03-23 03:26am

Not a neuroscientist, so I'm going to try and adress this from an archaeological standpoint.

Homo neanderthalensis, while being intelligent enough to use al manner of stone tools and language, did not show any real indication of symbolic or religious practices, so I reckon, if our closest sister species wasn't religious, than they lacked the 'God Spot'

Sounds just like dreaming, to me. What happens when it's activated in the
brain of a die hard atheist?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-03-23 03:35am

Sounds just like dreaming, to me. What happens when it's activated in the brain of a die hard atheist?

Awesome dreams involving lesbians.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-03-23 09:00am

Darth Wong wrote:
Sounds just like dreaming, to me. What happens when it's activated in the brain of a die hard atheist?
Awesome dreams involving lesbians.

Which lesbians?

(I need to know for my research...)

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-03-23 11:20am

didn't neanderthals bury their dead? does that show some kind of religious inclination?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-03-23 11:35am

Rye wrote:didn't neanderthals bury their dead? does that show some kind of religious inclination?

It indicates they had a respect for their dead. It doesn't mean anything beyond that. Atheists have funerals, if a different ceremony.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-03-23 12:09pm

Rye wrote:didn't neanderthals bury their dead? does that show some kind of religious inclination?

They occasionally buried their dead, nowheer near to the extent that H. sap do. And with no real burial goods or symbolism. All that shows is they didn't like the smell of rotting corpse.

Slartibartfast · Post by **Slartibartfast** » 2003-03-24 12:37am

innerbrat wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:
Sounds just like dreaming, to me. What happens when it's activated in the brain of a die hard atheist?
Awesome dreams involving lesbians.
Which lesbians?

(I need to know for my research...)

Pictures people. Pictures! I find your evidence lacking so far...

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