Study Shows Religion Makes The Brain Smaller

[undo11]

correct me if'n i'm wrong but isn't that article like "circular logic"?
like if you were to break it down into its simplest forms, would it say something like 1+1=2 therefore, 2=1+1 ?  both statements are true, but it allows no variants, such as 1-3=2 or 1+1+1-1=2 or any variation thereof?  it's true but not true at the same time. i hate that lol

i call those mind traps.  the more you think about them, the more a maze you create, because the thing is framed in such a way that your "work" can only be shown in one format and any other format is not going to arrive at a suitable answer but rather depict your lack of "thinking" in the first place.  i seem to recall reading how we hate most what we are the most guilty of.  might be something to that! 

(checks self......ut oh) 
in the words of roseannrosannadannah
"nevermind." 

[Littleenki]

or in the words of monty python..."and now for something completely different" LOL!!!
Le

[undo11]

or in the words of monty python..."and now for something completely different" LOL!!!
Le

well, actually the saying goes: "We hate most in others, what we hate most in ourselves. " ever wonder why someone's personality rubs ya the wrong way? well now you know or at least, that's what the saying says.  but isn't that a case of circular logic?  here we go again.

i should probably correct my prior statement:

other formats arrive a suitable final answer but the teacher (in the case of the op article, the authority figures listing off how protestants and catholics have hippocampal discrepancies.  it's like saying if your skin is black or white or orange etc, you are a dummy! these people wrote the book on how to be extremely prejudice and get accolades for it ), that teacher, WILL ONLY ACCEPT 1 answer. 

now that right there is the pot calling the kettle black calling the pot black calling the kettle black, etc.  it's .........it's.....

very intelligent and thoughtful! how nice!
we're all fine here now thank you. how're you?

[Amaterasu]

Hate to mention, Beth, but the last time I looked, 1-3 = -2...  [grin]

Loved Your first response.  I don't know what to make of the article, as I said, but surely it is good fodder for discussion and observation.  [smile]

[sky otter]

needed correction  because typing fingers and brain disconnected..
apologies
my response should have read like this:..



gawd linda
i'm laughing real hard here
i think my hubby may be realted to george.....sigh..must be some balance of nature that
we  (me and hubby) can't agree on this stuff ..he does listen so maybe some day...lol


you could be describing any ethnic group that i have come across..
any tirbe or small group who cling to this belief of ..if we needed to change it would have already happened.. 
it must somehow be in the ancient dna that to survive is to cling to a group and group beliefs
to be safe and protected....to me it's the hive mentality and personaliy
scares the bejesus otta my little brain..

i was raised catholic until..like carlin says..i reached the age of reason
got into tons of trouble for asking questions

so what i really take away from this is
stale = no growth

and Beth.. not pickin on you ..i admire your tenacity and accept that
your conclusion is not the same as mine


..............................not this..where's the embarrased emoticon?

gawd linda
i'm laughing real hard here
you could be describing any ethnic group that i have come across..
any tirbe or small group who cling to that ..if we needed to change it would have already happened.. 
i think my hubby may be realted to george.....sigh..must be some balance of nature we can't agree on this stuff ..he does listen so maybe some day...lol

but it must somehow be in the ancient dna that to survive is to cling to a group and group beliefs
to be safe and protected....to me it's the hive mentality and personaliy
scares the bejesus otta my little brain..

i was raised catholic until..like carlin says..i reached the age of reason
got into tons of trouble for asking questions

so what i really take away from this is
stale = no growth

and Beth.. not pickin on you ..i admire your tenacity and accept that
your conclusion is not the same as mine

[Littleenki]

Hate to mention, Beth, but the last time I looked, 1-3 = -2...  [grin]
hehehe, luferac htiw gnixim htam dna aixelsyd, llti teg ouy ni elbuort.
Le

[Amaterasu]

LOL!  Fortunately aixelsyd is not something I suffer from.  BUT...  I CAN read backwards!  (And upside down...)

[Littleenki]

LOL!  Fortunately aixelsyd is not something I suffer from.  BUT...  I CAN read backwards!  (And upside down...)

Le

[undo11]

so can i.
must be hippocampal damage.  let's find out.

[sky otter]

ha ha..as well as mixing thoughts as above so proved

i can write backwards quite fast..should say print....used to do it and call it mirror writting..i did it to entertain
my younger siblings when i had to babysit

have yet to figure out if it is regressive or progressive..

thanks for the understanding

[undo11]

nothing yet.

i just wonder how they account for religious people who are "intelligent"?
and what the criteria are for "intelligence".  if they are going by standard IQ tests, college grades, SATs or what? 

i was on the dean's list and then the president's list in college.  also a member of mensa.  was invited to be in several organizations for geniuses.  i can play 3 musical instruments, write poetry, have some limited art talent, can work with metaphor and symbol as good as the next guy.  although i know i'm not a genius, i don't think i'm "stupid." 

some of the greatest inventors and geniuses of the past, were religious people.  i don't get this insistence that people who "believe" in something, anything, are stupid.  i think they must be going with the concept that if you believe anything without question, you aren't challenging your mind. however, the idea that religious people don't ask questions is a negative stereotype that's been dreamt up to serve the cause of people who don't like religion.  it's simply not true.  people ask questions all the time.  they don't necessarily tell everyone else they are asking questions because frankly, until they say otherwise, it's no one else's business what they think about in the privacy of their own minds.

i'm going to advance the theory now, that you'd better be careful clinging unquestioningly to their studies ,because to me, it has all the earmarks of yet another "witch burning".   

[undo11]

p.s.  most of the "witches" who were burned , were not witches in the "fairy tale" sense. in fact, they were just average religious people, who, for whatever reason, earned the negative attention of people who decided to accuse them of being "evil."  in effect, there were no witches burned at salem.  those were all religious people burning religious people, most likely for social, political and/or sexual reasons.

when are we gonna quit this sh i t?

[undo11]

Hate to mention, Beth, but the last time I looked, 1-3 = -2...  [grin]

lol! and that too! 
see what i mean?  there are so many variants of the same universal truth. i don't get what the big deal is but am not fond of watching a slow motion genocide in the making.  pay attention to what they are saying.  they are trying to characterize the PEOPLE of abrahamic faiths other than judaism,  specifically, as "idiotic" but none of the others.  this should raise some eyebrows considering abrahamic faiths are based on sumerian and egyptian information!  that part is hidden . you have to dig it out of ancient texts, but it's all over the freakin' place.

on the other hand, religious judaism is under attack for being the cause of greed and war, because some industrial-military complex guys and bankers are, or claim to be, jewish.    they are working the public like a gaggle of violin maestros!   

all i can figure from this is the target isn't all jewish people but religious jewish people of a particular breed. and all christians and muslims, seem to be big flashing targets, no matter what the extent of their beliefs are.   no matter how moderate, no matter how extreme.   why is this, you might ask? (i know i did!) all i can figure is this is the plan for depopulation.  mischaracterize and stereotype huge groups of people, make them seem like the only problem on the planet is them, and then, work the inate prejudice of the average individual, into a feeding frenzy, so by the time the thing starts to collapse,  they can just point and say:   kill it.   

[Linda Brown]

Undo.....I am going to challenge you a little bit here, You said

"it's simply not true.  people ask questions all the time.  they don't necessarily tell everyone else they are asking questions because frankly, until they say otherwise, it's no one else's business what they think about in the privacy of their own minds

Asking questions in your mind OF COURSE is valuable and I consider our gift from the Creator. However when you finish your statement you show others too how you can be swayed....

They don't necessarily tell everyone else..... YOU say because frankly what they are thinking is no one elses business but underneath that could it be that you would be simply avoiding persecution and ridicule for thinking thoughts that are outside of the realm of those around you. Aren't you bending then to a form of silent " control?"

I am slow to say many of the things that I believe and think for that very reason so don't think that I am excluding myself in this.... but its not really because its " nobody Else's business" Its more ( in MY case anyway) that I don't want people coming after me with torches or discounting everything else I have to say simply because they can not put their minds around some of the more..... uh.... unconventional thoughts and things that I have experienced.

And yes.... the knee jerk reaction is to simply say...." Its none of their business what I am thinking".... but your decision not to share those thoughts with others... that's being affected here by crowd peer pressure and you would be doing yourself a disservice by not seeing it. That's just my opinion. Pick it up... or leave it on the floor.   Linda

[Amaterasu]

so can i.
must be hippocampal damage.  let's find out.

Ok.  My sides are aching!  Thanks for the belly laugh!