What feeds the tendency of society to mysticism?
Why psychics, fortune-tellers and astrologers do not depart from the pages of newspapers and TV screens? Teaching of homeopathy or torsion fields claim to be scientific, and supporters of traditional religions insist that creationism is taught on a par with the theory of evolution, and require the introduction of religious education in schools. However, school education provides familiarity with the scientific picture of the world, therefore, if the school will be taught the basics of religion or religious culture from the perspective of the faithful, it is reasonable and fair balance of scientific knowledge about the religion.
The mystical beliefs prevalent around the world and are filled with its diversity. Someone does not eat pork, someone prays to summon rain, someone symbolically eating the flesh of their God, believes in flying saucers, clairvoyance, horoscopes or bad omens. It is no secret that many people tend to take these ideas for granted, without requiring stringent evidence and studies, based on their own intuition and feelings. Another group of people speculated: where do these ideas about the world?
Scientific Burhus Skinner studied pigeons. At one time he worked for the US Navy guided missile system with the help of these birds, but the project was soon abandoned due to the advent of more advanced developments. And few were willing to entrust rocket pigeon, despite the success of the test. In addition, Skinner spent a number of interesting behavioral research. He put the pigeons in a cage with a trough in which from time to time, regardless of what the birds fell out food. In this case pigeons elaborated peculiar rituals: one blue run circles counter-clockwise, the other banging his head against the corner of the cell, the fourth and the fifth made regular rotation of the head. It turned out that the pigeons are beginning more often than usual to repeat the movement, which they by coincidence, made at the time of cooking. This phenomenon has been called "pigeon prejudice" and is an example of how the animal world there is an intuitive link between two unconnected events: hit his head against the wall and getting food. Examples of this kind of prejudice in humans will establish the relationship between the black cat that crossed the road, and misfortune, shaman dance and autumn rain, tarot cards and receiving the award at work, between the adoption of a homeopathic remedy and cure of the disease. Of course, complex things such as religion, are not primitive superstition, but human thought is much harder than thinking of a dove.
Do mentally ill people prejudices can take extreme forms. Neurophysiologist Vilaynur Ramachandran tells how one psychiatric clinic showed him two patients. One of them went out to meet a dawn and stood at the window until the evening every day, arguing that it moves the sun across the sky. The second power of thought controlled the flow of moving cars on the road at the hospital, "examining" emerging cork. They saw the changes in the world and mistakenly consider them as a consequence of their thought processes, sincerely believed in it. Professor Ramachandran brings another interesting example of absurd faith in man, the patient anosognosia. The patient, being of sound mind, capable without problems to discuss any topic, to think logically, to play chess, but completely denies the paralysis of his left arm caused by damage to the brain. "It's not my hand; it's big and hairy, so it is the hand of my father "- may declare a patient. Or: "The hand is not paralyzed, it is quite normal." When the patient is asked to touch the paralyzed left hand to the right shoulder, he did not hesitate to take his ailing arm healthy right hand and follow the instructions: someone smart in his subconscious realizes that the arm is paralyzed, but people consciously deny the obvious facts, believes that the hand in order. This is an extreme, but perhaps, and mental health is not so far from these mistakes in everyday life?
If serious violations of the brain give rise to absurd beliefs and convictions, could it be that the usual tendency to believe is related to the features of the device of the brain? Could these symptoms be inherited? The first answers were obtained through research on twins. It was found that identical twins (genetically identical), brought up individually, are much more similar in their relation to faith in God than ordinary brothers and sisters. If the last into adulthood often differ in the tendency to believe in the religious phenomenon, adult identical twins is approximately two times more likely to retain the same views. This was the first evidence that "spirituality" is inherited. He was soon found and the corresponding gene. In 2004, a scientist Dean Hammer published a book "God Gene: How Faith is fixed in our genes," which describes the unique find. The gene encoding the protein VMAT2, is found in several variants (alleles) in the human population and, according to the study, it is associated with a tendency to believe that does not require evidence. VMAT2 - a protein which is the major transporter of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, serotonin and histamine. These substances provide communication between brain cells. The fact that "God gene" is associated with the transport of these substances, it is not surprising: the impact on our perception and emotional state is extremely large. The idea of "God gene" has been adopted by theologians hostility as an attempt to reduce the religious perception of the world to the banal features of the functioning of the human body, but nothing this opening (as well as any scientific discoveries) to the question "Is there a God?" Does not have. It was just that people are very religious in physiological reasons related to their genetic information.
Before going any further, we need to touch upon another disease - epilepsy. In ancient times it was believed that epileptics in contact with the higher powers, for example, with God or, conversely, that they possessed by the devil or an evil spirit. In some tribes became epileptic shamans often be seen as predictors of the future, sometimes feared and held in isolation. One form of epilepsy with the excitation source in the temporal lobes of the cerebral hemispheres leads to strange mystical experience: a person during and after seizures may appear that he learned all the secrets of the universe, he saw "infinity in a grain of sand," or heard the voice of the Creator. After such attacks people are particularly religious. The above-mentioned Professor Ramachandran says: different objects evoke the emotions of people of varying strength. Type of dangerous animals or beautiful members of the opposite sex excites the man, while a bottle of water or a stone on the road do not have the emotional significance for ordinary people. It is very important for an adequate perception of the world. It is possible to hypothesize what if because of seizures a person all begins to seem emotionally meaningful to him and the only explanation for this strange feeling becomes divine intervention?
Experiments have shown that the hypothesis is wrong: the risk of epilepsy-ons, but everyday objects such as a table or a chair, they still do not care. Moreover, unlike conventional men epileptics such extremely weakly excite sexual imagery. But striking proved another fact: as soon as epileptic showed the icon, the cross, the word "God", a star or other mystical symbol, the polygraph ("lie detector"), which measures the emotional state, rolls over, and in the test it was possible to detect increased activity of certain groups of nerve cells. It turned out that a group of cells in the amygdala, the approaches to the emotional center of the brain - the limbic system, associated religious visions epileptics, and their hypersensitive reaction to the mystical symbols. It amygdala is associated with the definition of the emotional significance of the observed objects. Some resourceful supporters of religion, do not want to keep up with scientific progress, this area of the brain compared to the "antenna" that God has placed in the people to communicate with them. According to Professor Ramachandran, how this is arranged at the center of an individual may depend on his tendency to believe in ghosts, clairvoyance, or God.
But that's not all. The most severe forms of epilepsy is sometimes treated with surgery, during which cut the corpus callosum - bridge connecting the left and right hemispheres of the brain. For the study of people with disparate hemispheres in 1981, Roger Sperry was awarded the Nobel Prize. In a series of complex experiments, during which it was possible to communicate with the hemispheres separately, it was found that as a result of the operation, each hemisphere has its own personality, to the point that one hemisphere may be a believer in God, and the other not. This person does not have a real split personality, he is fully responsible for his actions, behaves like a man, not as two, adequately perceive themselves and the world. Critics argue that the whole concept is wrong: one hemisphere, namely voice, has consciousness (soul), and another - "zombies", but it is unclear on what basis they make such a conclusion: nonverbal hemisphere ability to think and communicate with the experimenter par with speech by selecting answers to questions finger (to say it does not). These experiments cover topics that previously belonged more to the sphere of religion and philosophy, than to the natural sciences: whether a scalpel to cut in half consciousness? In addition, there is a big theological problem: if a man two personalities, that will get you both of his soul to heaven or it may be that the soul of the believer will go to heaven hemisphere, and the soul is not an atheist?
Therefore, some scientists have come to the conclusion that the tendency to religion, mysticism is largely connected with the feature of the functioning of the brain, which in turn is determined by genetic factors by means of certain neurotransmitters. This, perhaps, is a fundamental contradiction between people with rational and irrational type of thinking: they see the world differently due to physiological differences in the brain and, therefore, one is unable to understand the blind faith, while others are not capable of that faith to give, how strong arguments were presented to them whatever. Once again, that no Ramachandran nor Hammond, nor most of the other scientists did not lead it as a proof that there is no God: if God existed and was all-powerful, he could easily create the brains of people so that they believe in him with the a power. "It is not clear just why God prefers to be epileptics, and during seizures, but that's a private matter," - adds to this, Professor Ramachandran.
It should be noted that the study of human morality in terms of neurophysiology not stand still. Religion definitely claim to be a landmark in the formation of human morals, but, for example, data from studies of prisoners in US and British prisons show a significant predominance among them religious people, not atheists and agnostics. Explanation of this phenomenon can give a lot, but in any case there is no real reason to believe that religious beliefs are added to people any moral qualities. You can recall the Crusades, the suicide bombers, the Inquisition, the persecution of the Old Believers of the Gentiles sacrifice, and so on. Still, most people do not kill each other, and not plunder. Why is that? More recently, it was made a curious discovery: discovered the so-called "mirror neurons." If we nibbled apple activates a group of mirror neurons, and the same group of cells is activated when we observe how the other person is chewing an apple. Mirror neurons allow people to imitate relatives, put yourself in the place of another, such as when we imagine or see the pain of another person (and if we're having discomfort). One can hypothesize: mirror neurons - a kind of built-in mechanism to maintain the standards of human morality of the golden rule: Do unto others as you want them to do to you, put yourself in the other person. People who do not work mirror neurons with autism - it harder to get along with people, it is more difficult to imitate others and put ourselves in their place. Another study on twins shows that many aspects of behavior, such as a tendency to forgive, renounce vengeance, largely inherited. There is reason to believe that morality, like religion, is partly innate feature of the brain, and if so, it makes sense to ask: why in the course of evolution, these personality traits have emerged and survived?
On the question of the origin of morality answers Richard Dawkins, a popularizer of the theory of evolution, the author of the famous book "The Selfish Gene." With the help of "game theory" simulated many situations in life. One such game is the "prisoner's dilemma". In this game two players. Each round, both players choose one of two things: to share or not to share a certain amount of money (can not agree beforehand). If both players are divided, both get 3 dollar conditional if both do not want to share - 2 conventional dollar. If one is divided, and the other does not want to share, first of all received a suspended 1 dollar, and the second receives as many as four conventional dollar. In the game one by one, if the player chooses the strategy will never share, it is guaranteed to receive as much or more money than his opponent. But if opponents hundred or two? In 1981, Axelrod and Hamilton organized a computer tournament for the game in the "prisoner's dilemma" to determine the best strategy. The tournament was a lot of programs: aggressive, self-centered programs, complex program calculates the wrong moves, soft, "good" program, and all they had to take turns with one another, gaining points. The most successful program was very simple, it was called "you to me, I tell you." In the first round she willingly shared, and then repeated the banal every previous move of the opponent. Simply put, this program is easy to "take offense", but also easy to "forgive" and willingly cooperated with other programs. When there are two similar programs, they immediately started to "make friends" to give $ 3 each, and thus win over the final results. The idea turned out to be the most suited friendly program easy to forgive injuries, became an argument in favor of that, and people in the community that can collaborate and suppress his ego, can generally be successful. In the life of animals can find numerous examples of cooperation, confirms this: the big fish do not eat the small fish that are cleaned with these parasites, monkeys willingly clean each other, and vampire bats may voluntarily share the extracted blood hungry friends, and it's all laid on level of genetic programs. Morality is a very useful acquisition enshrined in almost every one of us from birth.
By analogy with the genes of Richard Dawkins introduces the concept of memes. Meme - an idea that can be transmitted from person to person. Successful memes are part of the culture. Trendy music, jokes, rumors and expressions - all memes. Philosopher Dan Dennett draws a parallel between memes and viruses: both require a carrier to spread. The only difference is that a biological virus - this is the information recorded in the form of DNA and RNA molecules, and a meme - that is, information in the form of words or actions related to the idea or ritual. Spread can useless and harmful memes, but it is useful if the meme media, increasing his chances of spreading. For its conservation memes can have protective mechanisms, such as the meme may contain information that questioning him, the man was wroth higher power or fail - then the media meme harder to get rid of him. Dawkins considers religion and history as the evolution of memes, using the propensity of people to the beliefs to spread.
