> From: Andri Esteves <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 01:29:26 +0000 > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: The End of the Golden Age of Crypto > > On Friday 15 November 2002 00:41, you wrote: >> Indeed, I've heard the same. One could argue that for someone to believe in >> something (religion) so intensely as to shun all moral explanation against >> this hypothesis and to persist in those beliefs without any proof is akin >> to schizophrenia. But that's a whole new kettle of fish. >> ~SAM > > It all depends on the definition of sane... > > As usually it's a religious force who imposes "truth", the faithfull will > remain normal ... :) > > Manipulating the definion of normality is dangerous and only begets the > temptation to use it to use other people... > > We have examples of self-proclaimed atheist societies where this was used for > political manipulation: psiquiatric institutions in the former USRR, or even > some private institutions in USA that would do that for a hire.. (the case of > the frontal lobotomy of Getty's son, ordered by Getty himself (wich probably > was age demented by that time, but has people obey to anyone who has a fat > checkbook...) > > We could also invoke memetics and say that religion is like a mental disorder > that spreads through a population... A meme infecting minds as they are > vulnerable to certain statements, emotions and tautological arguments.
Actually, hehe, I've made this comparison before, of religion to a disease. (first off, let me clarify that I have nothing against anyone's religion! I'm looking at this from an outsider's perspective, and harbor no biases.) The torah, for example, has very strict guidelines in it for reproduction of the book, and strongly encourages its followers to go out and make copies. As you mention, religion can act as a virus of sorts, "infecting" its carrier and urging it to carry the "virus" to others. > > My experience in a former religious life, is that the mentally ill are drawn > to the religious life... There's even a rare neurological sickness (caused by > accidents and brain defects in certain parts of the brain ) in wich the > patient has trancesdental experiences and direct contact with god. > Ooh, and then there's the apparent tongue of Babel. Glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, is sometimes said to be the human core language. > Interestingly, you can reproduce that experience with some mushrooms or roots > from the amazon florest, there's even a cult in Brazil that uses them... > (more incredible, is that its alucinations are individualistic... someone > that believes in buda, will feel Buda... Jeovah, etc... there are people > (usually atheists) that say they talked with aliens and space ghosts :))) > This drug will even eliminate addictions.. There are heroin, tabaco, etc > addicts that will have their addictions eliminated after a section with the > so called sacrament... > Weird. > Wich is very, very interesting.... for "the god in our brains" seems to clear > our deepest fears and pain. Have there ever been studies done on the actual, physical effects of religion on the human brain? It definitely seems valid to say that SOMETHING occurs within the mind when one "assumes a faith", something which would definitely be worthwhile to look into... Anyone know? ~SAM > Yours faithfully, > > Andri Esteves
