Republican christofascist Mike Pence, Vice President. Credit: Gage Skidmore/Flickr
A study published in the journal Neuropsychologia has shown that religious fundamentalism is, in part, the result of a functional impairment in a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex. (emphasis added)
The findings suggest that damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness.
Religious beliefs can be thought of as socially transmitted mental representations that consist of supernatural events and entities assumed to be real. Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherence to the rules of society among individuals within the group.
Religious fundamentalism […]
This study indicates a very good reason for teaching transcendental meditation in our schools.
Good you finally realize that fundamenalism is a symptom, not a cause. People grasp at rules when their fear blocks thier thinking. Doing their best as damaged goods. And yes there are institutions that extend that paralysis. I hope now, with this discovery you can put more emphasis upon the people who professionally are taking advantage of them. There are consultants, I imagine, and didn’t, hmmm, I have blocked his name, the guy they called Bush’s brain, who started a big box media like churchy thing… some kind of corportion.
No point in blaming, Well yes, there is a lot of pointing in blaming, but that is not the obect, I belive of this wonderful font of reportage. But finding the sources and activators of un-wellness… the fear fanners.
I do not deny that there are many threats, our economy being one of the biggest; but responding to threats with fear is not a successful strategy. Nor is accosting the mentally
disadvantaged.
Given that trauma in childhood can cause changes in the brain, and given that religious fundamentalism often encourages corporal punishment of children, does anyone know if there is a correlation between the kind of brain damage found in this study and corporal punishment in childhood? Thanks!