Is Pure Consciousness Possible?
Some practitioners of meditative disciplines or people who have had mystical experiences claim to attain a state of “pure consciousness” (PC). PC is supposed to be a state where one is conscious, but is not conscious of anything. That is, it is completely objectless, or if it has any object at all, the object is … Is Pure Consciousness Possible?
Why I Do Not Equate Religious Belief with Mental Illness
I’m not a psychiatrist, but as a teenager I worked for an elderly woman who I later found out was a paranoid schizophrenic with organic brain decomposition. (As an aside, if you have any empathy at all, it’s impossible to get to know someone like this and not find their situation heartbreaking.) I agree that you … Why I Do Not Equate Religious Belief with Mental Illness
What are Atheists For?
What are atheists for? Hypotheses on the functions of non-belief in the evolution of religion Dominic Johnson* Politics and International Relations, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK An explosion of recent research suggests that religious beliefs and behaviors are universal, arise from deep-seated cognitive mechanisms, and were favored by natural selection over human evolutionary history. However, if a propensity towards … What are Atheists For?
Is HADD Evidence Against Theism? Part 1
I’ve been thinking lately about whether HADD, on the assumption that it exists, is evidence for or against the existence of God. I’m starting to think it is neutral, but I’m posting this here for feedback. Context Before diving into the details, let’s review a few items for context. First, let’s address terminology. HADD is … Is HADD Evidence Against Theism? Part 1
Religious Belief Systems of Persons with High Functioning Autism
Abstract: The cognitive science of religion is a new field which explains religious belief as emerging from normal cognitive processes such as inferring others’ mental states, agency detection and imposing patterns on noise. This paper investigates the proposal that individual differences in belief will reflect cognitive processing styles, with high functioning autism being an extreme … Religious Belief Systems of Persons with High Functioning Autism