Study Shows Religion Makes The Brain Smaller

[undo11]

well let me put it this way:

if i agree with some things and disagree with other things, i get in trouble from the religious people who agree with all the things.  however, if i agree with ANY OF it, i get in trouble with people who think it's all bullcrap and that only stupid people would believe any of it.   it's a vice grip, meant to keep you to one extreme or the other.  there's no tap dancing down the middle or tight rope walking, or anything resembling balance between common sense and spirituality for either side, unless the person is also a reasonable individual.  reasonable individuals, if they aren't part of the "in crowd" (got no clue who the in crowd is), usually get severly marginalized by reality.

[Amaterasu]

well let me put it this way:

if i agree with some things and disagree with other things, i get in trouble from the religious people who agree with all the things.  however, if i agree with ANY OF it, i get in trouble with people who think it's all bullcrap and that only stupid people would believe any of it.   it's a vice grip, meant to keep you to one extreme or the other.  there's no tap dancing down the middle or tight rope walking, or anything resembling balance between common sense and spirituality for either side, unless the person is also a reasonable individual.  reasonable individuals, if they aren't part of the "in crowd" (got no clue who the in crowd is), usually get severly marginalized by reality.

Well, there are those of Us who don't believe in the "god" thing, but have no issues whatsoever with any who do.  If it fulfills One, awesome.

[Littleenki]

Amy's right, Undo. it's okay to believe anything you want, and God is just as possible a reality than any out there, so good for you, and keep believing in God, as something created all of this originally, and why not call them God?
Cheers!
Littleenki

[rdunk]

Amy's right, Undo. it's okay to believe anything you want, and God is just as possible a reality than any out there, so good for you, and keep believing in God, as something created all of this originally, and why not call them God?
Cheers!
Littleenki

Because, for some of us, God is not a "them", except as in the "Trinity" (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost), as presented and described in the Bible!

But, as you say,  "it's okay to believe anything you want" - - - as long as one is satisfied with the expected outcomes in the "end", for whatever one believes.
 
Cheers!!

[PLAYSWITHMACHINES]

Rdunk:

So, if the God of this universe has given us (we as Christians) his mind, then I guess it is his fault, if it is smaller than a normal brain!!! I can live with that just fine!

I'm with you, bro..

Linda:

The downside is..... What ever they don't already know.... is not important. Literally. If knowledge hasn't filtered down to them regarding history or useful concepts.... they don't need to know it. And anything that is outside their realm is... highly suspect.

Very true.

I have to say, an 8 year study is a long time, and they are kind of jumping to conclusions here.
Show me the brain of someone who's been on their Playstation for 8 years, see if you can find their brain, let alone the Hippocampus

You know my views on religion, but the scriptures etc are also full of history, both real and imagined, and it's up to us to pick through the pieces and see what we can learn.
Personally, i find buddhism to be a great example of 'self betterment', 'be kind to others' and 'learn all you can', 'be at one with nature' etc etc.
How can this be bad for me?
OK so i'm not dressed in orange with a tambourine, and i worship no-one except maybe Tesla
And he was no god or saint, just a very clever man.

The dumbing-down mind control techniques that are used in many religions, as well as TPTB, the media etc are the same. All we need to do is be aware of what their message is.
"Nothing to see here, move along" is usualy the message when people start asking questions.
"Technology is evil" is another one.
Technology is not evil, just as money isn't. It's just the way we use them that makes it a good or a terrible thing.
Always look for the message IN the message, look for the subliminal part, since being aware of it will shift your view of it, and your response to it will be different than the desired result.

In any case, believe in anything you want, so long as it does no harm to others.
I can get along with all kinds of people, i've chatted to Rabbi's, Priests, Mullahs and never had a real problem with any of them, they could not understand my lack of religion, just as i could not understand their faith in it.
Certainly there are extreme views in some of these religions, which i think is narrow minded & that is also a product of their upbringing or environment.
As usual, it's the various interpretations of these texts that cause the trouble.
Remember Brian losing a sandal in the Monty Python film?
How could you possibly interpret a book which said 'slay thine enemies' on page 94 but said 'thou shalt not kill' on page 70?? (just an example there, no particular religion in mind)

I think the universal religion (if we really have to have one) would be Asimov's laws
And not just 3 laws Amy, the Zeroth law should be there as well, until such time as we are incapable of mass destruction.

4; A human being may harm another if it's to prevent them harming a lot of others.
This would not mean blowing them away, but using extreme force when necessary.

Now i know some of you will baulk at that, but if some nutcase wants to blow up a shopping mall, they should be stopped by any means possible, don't you think?

To recap on those 3 laws:
1: A human being may not harm, or through inaction, allow another human to be harmed.

2: A human being is expected to look after themselves and those around them, except where this conflicts with rule 1

3; A human being may perform any reasonable task within  their ability, when asked to do so by another, providing this does not conflict with rules1&2.
(let's call that the 'work ethic law')

Addenum to rule 3 (the original 4th law): A human may do whatever they like in their free time, so long as it is constructive, and does not conflict with the first laws.

How's that for a religion? Count me in...

[Littleenki]

sign me up, Luke, and i want a cool patch to go on my uniform!
LOL!
You are a wise man, my friend, very wise indeed!
Le

[Amaterasu]

Luke, I'm in Your camp all the way, except that, the law You offer assumes seft defence/defence of Others is a "willful" thing, and though there are elements of Will involved, it primarily is a reactionary thing.

[PLAYSWITHMACHINES]

Yes, Amy, it's a reaction thing.
We would automatically react to, say, a child falling in a river.
Someone woud dive in, without thinking (especially if they are a good swimmer, it would be second nature to them).
Unfortunately, we seem to have lost this natural ability to care for each other. The will may be there, but the action is restrained, or doesn't come at all.
Why should we not come to the defence of someone being attacked?
OK most of us are physically incapable, especially if the attacker is very big or aggressive. That's why we have Police, but robots woild be far better in this respect, they could move faster, and restrain a human, and they wouln't give a damn how big they are, whether they are armed or not.
They would be prepared to get destroyed in the process, something a human will not do.
Their first task would be: Protect the humans, also from each other if need be...
Of course there will be complications arising from these laws, and Asimov has even adressed them.
He even saw how these laws could be applied to humans, and extrapolated another 3000 years of human evolution from them. Fascinating stuff.
Hollywood missed all that, of course, when they filmed 'I Robot'- no surprise there

[Littleenki]

Amy, Luke, you are both right! It is a deep subject, helping others.
Asimov is a favorite of mine, and when I was a boy reading his work, I didnt think about the depth of his ideas, just how cool his stories were! 
Ive seen the non helpers sit idle when someone is drowning, and have also seen someone stop on the interstate to help a crash victim, and get killed by rubbernecking drivers driving by the scene, so either way, you just have to make the call at the time, I guess.
If you remember the last Seinfeld they get arrested for not helping, and everyone thought, what the? A pretty fitting end for the show, and if youve been to the city of New York proper,you know they will step over a dead body to get their starbucks there!

We need to adopt a new approach to our fellow man and woman, and allow this idea to grow and turn into a natural desire to help or comfort someone, and it cant happen soon enough.

Kill them with kindness, it doesnt hurt as much!LOL!
Littleenki

[Pimander]

A lot of talk here guys..... but no attempt to scientifically refute the findings of the study.  Interesting.   

[Littleenki]

Pimander's right folks, lets get to the meat of the matter.
I for one dont have the wherewithal to do a study like this, so I will speak from my vast people experiences which I do have after twenty years of business and social interaction with many people at art shows(thousands a day sometimes!)

I cant know every facet of how a person became who they are today, but when I do, I can make a decision as to what their mental state is.

For the many folks Ive met who are openly religious, I  find them kind and caring, but there is still a bit of hollowness going on in some of their heads. They seem to relate everything they do to god or the bible, and dont stop to smell the roses, so I wonder if the hippocampus affects the olfactory sneses....It can be frustrating communicating with a devoutly religious person sometimes as it's like talking to a wall, unless it pertains to the narrow view they have, very frustrating, but most are kind loving people who deserve no cynical repercussions on my part, so...heres a pass religious people

Those Ive known who have had NDE's are a different story, and it seems the reaction they have right after is key in determining their continued open minded thinking, or closing the door to new knowledge and harping on how since they made it out of that electrocution, they must be in god's hands. That kid was me when I decided to use the experience as a new start, and have grown in the hippocampal region ever since(I think!LOL).My friend Steve(not here) had a similar experience and was damaged for it for life. He actually has become a deeply religious person, and joined a ..wait for it...snake handling church in Georgia. Hes pretty much a narrow minded kook now, but he still can write like a madman! 

Scientific, or empirical proof of this study isnt in my realm of finance so winging it through lifes experiences is my data curve, and I have to say, on the outside the determination that religion makes the brain smaller can be quite noticable. Its ok though, as when you believe something with 100 percent of your heart, the brain decides to lock that part in, and makes it shrink a bit due to lack of use.

Objective thinking grows the brain, and narrow mindedness shrinks it...cut and dry.

Cheers, and time for an excedrin!
Littleenki

[Amaterasu]

Yes, Amy, it's a reaction thing.
We would automatically react to, say, a child falling in a river.
Someone woud dive in, without thinking (especially if they are a good swimmer, it would be second nature to them).
Unfortunately, we seem to have lost this natural ability to care for each other. The will may be there, but the action is restrained, or doesn't come at all.
Why should we not come to the defence of someone being attacked?
OK most of us are physically incapable, especially if the attacker is very big or aggressive. That's why we have Police, but robots woild be far better in this respect, they could move faster, and restrain a human, and they wouln't give a damn how big they are, whether they are armed or not.
They would be prepared to get destroyed in the process, something a human will not do.
Their first task would be: Protect the humans, also from each other if need be...
Of course there will be complications arising from these laws, and Asimov has even adressed them.
He even saw how these laws could be applied to humans, and extrapolated another 3000 years of human evolution from them. Fascinating stuff.
Hollywood missed all that, of course, when they filmed 'I Robot'- no surprise there

One thong to keep in mind is that attacks will become almost non-existent in abundance.  Why steal someOne's purse?  Why murder someOne.  The degree to which crime will drop will astound most.  Even rape - which is a power thing, not a sexual thing - will drop as the would-be rapist finds 100% power over Self.

The three Laws will seldom be broken because there is very little in the way of motivation to do so.  Maybe jealousy...  But We need them for the purposes of judging those few who choose poor behavior despite the freedom and abundance in Their lives.

[Amaterasu]

Amy, Luke, you are both right! It is a deep subject, helping others.
Asimov is a favorite of mine, and when I was a boy reading his work, I didnt think about the depth of his ideas, just how cool his stories were! 
Ive seen the non helpers sit idle when someone is drowning, and have also seen someone stop on the interstate to help a crash victim, and get killed by rubbernecking drivers driving by the scene, so either way, you just have to make the call at the time, I guess.
If you remember the last Seinfeld they get arrested for not helping, and everyone thought, what the? A pretty fitting end for the show, and if youve been to the city of New York proper,you know they will step over a dead body to get their starbucks there!

We need to adopt a new approach to our fellow man and woman, and allow this idea to grow and turn into a natural desire to help or comfort someone, and it cant happen soon enough.

Kill them with kindness, it doesnt hurt as much!LOL!
Littleenki

With the removal of money from Our social system, We will not fear litigation because We tried to help or got involved.  Our hearts will open, and We will act accordingly.  Sure, some of the older Ones with ingrained responses won't change, but overall there will be a move towards loving One anOther.  Money is the biggest barrier to Love.

[Amaterasu]

A lot of talk here guys..... but no attempt to scientifically refute the findings of the study.  Interesting.   

Ah, back on topic.  [smile]  I have nothing to refute the findings.  [shrug]

[rdunk]

I have nothing to refute the findings either. However, I do think that anyone who believes this "study" has any credibility, is probably a "little shy" of average, on the IQ bell curve!! 

(No offense intended!)