When I was a university
student, I formed some pretty strong conclusions about God and about science.
God, or so I reasoned, was about the meaning of life and morality, whereas
science was about laws that govern the "stuff" that makes up the
universe. There was no way in which one could inform or contradict the other.
They were, or so I thought, different areas of human experience, so there was
no point in saying things like "science proves that God doesn't
exist", or that "science shows us the best way to behave is...".
Looking at some of the review
articles appearing in the New Scientist this year (see below) has challenged my
view that the two areas of life are completely separate, and has done so in
quite an unexpected way: by showing that God is literally on the brain. Here's
some of the evidence.
1. The brain sees the world
as composed of two different kinds of objects, one which looks at inanimate
objects, and one that looks at minds. The Yale psychologist Bloom is cited as
referring to this as "common-sense dualism". Two different brain
systems, one for each type of object. By separating "minds" from
"stuff", the brain can quite easily conceive of minds that are
disembodied from "stuff". Kids, for example, often have "imaginary
friends". It isn't much to then conceive of the minds of dead relatives,
or indeed, the mind of God.
2. Developing from this
idea, are the brain imaging studies that show that the brain responds
differently if asked to talk to real people, compared to imaginary people.
Talking to Santa Claus, apparently, does not light up the brain in the same way
as talking with your girlfriend. What was interesting about these studies was
that when asked to pray to God, the parts of the brain associated with talking
to real people lit up.
3. Another area of interest
concerns the brains overdeveloped sense of cause and effect. People tend to see
patterns in the world, even when they don't exist. Kids are particularly good
at this. Research by Keleman cited by Brooks show that seven or
eight-year-old children believed that, for example, pointy rocks were created
for animals "to scratch themselves on", or that "birds exist to
create nice music". Petrovitch, again cited by Brooks, suggests that
even adults who describe themselves as atheists and agnostics are prone to
supernatural thinking.
4. Finally, the more under
stress we are, the more likely we are to use this cognitive bias. Asked to
find patterns in random dots, stressed groups of people routinely find more
patterns than relaxed groups of people. This might account for why church
attendance increase during times of economic downturn.
What conclusions can be
drawn from these studies? I guess the most important thing to say is that there
is nothing in this which proves, or for that matter, disproves, the existence
of a deity. Reassuringly, the science leaves everything where it found it. What
is interesting, though, is that these studies suggest that the human brain is
naturally predisposed to supernatural and magical thinking. It is, if you will,
the brain's default cognitive style. Rational thought is something we find
harder to do, particularly when stressed, or distressed. This does not explain
away God, but it does make it easier to understand why people are so drawn to a
spiritual path, and often at times of crisis.
1.
Coghlan, A. Praying to God is like talking to
a friend. New Scientist 11 April p. 9.
2. Brooks, M. Natural Born Believers. New Scientist 7 February pp. 31 – 33.
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