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More copies of this ISBN:The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soulby Mario Beauregard
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Do religious experiences come from God, or are they merely the random firing of neurons in the brain? Drawing on his own research with Carmelite nuns, neuroscientist Mario Beauregard shows that genuine, life-changing spiritual events can be documented. He offers compelling evidence that religious experiences have a nonmaterial origin, making a convincing case for what many in scientific fields are loath to consider—that it is God who creates our spiritual experiences, not the brain. Beauregard and O'Leary explore recent attempts to locate a "God gene" in some of us and claims that our brains are "hardwired" for religion—even the strange case of one neuroscientist who allegedly invented an electromagnetic "God helmet" that could produce a mystical experience in anyone who wore it. The authors argue that these attempts are misguided and narrow-minded, because they reduce spiritual experiences to material phenomena. Many scientists ignore hard evidence that challenges their materialistic prejudice, clinging to the limited view that our experiences are explainable only by material causes, in the obstinate conviction that the physical world is the only reality. But scientific materialism is at a loss to explain irrefutable accounts of mind over matter, of intuition, willpower, and leaps of faith, of the "placebo effect" in medicine, of near-death experiences on the operating table, and of psychic premonitions of a loved one in crisis, to say nothing of the occasional sense of oneness with nature and mystical experiences in meditation or prayer. Traditional science explains away these and other occurrences as delusions or misunderstandings, but by exploring the latest neurological research on phenomena such as these, The Spiritual Brain gets to their real source. Review:"'Following C.S. Lewis's dictum that 'to 'see through' all things is the same as not to see,' neuroscientist Beauregard and journalist O'Leary mount a sweeping critique of a trend in 'the pop science media' to explain away religious experience as a brain artifact, pathology or evolutionary quirk. While sympathizing with the attraction such 'neurotheology' holds, the authors warn against the temptation to force the complex varieties of human spirituality into simplistic categories that they argue are conceptually crude, culturally biased and often empirically untested. In recently published research using Carmelite nuns as subjects, Beauregard's group at the University of Montreal found specific areas of brain activation associated with contemplative prayer. But these patterns are quite distinct from those associated with hallucinations, autosuggestion or states of intense emotional arousal, resembling instead how the brain processes 'real' experiences. Insisting that 'we have never entertained the idea of proving the existence of God,' the authors concede that 'the results of our work are assumed to be a strike either for or against God' and that 'on the whole, we [don't] mind.' Never shrinking from controversy, and sometimes deliberately provoking it, this book serves as a lively introduction to a field where neuroscience, philosophy, and secular/spiritual cultural wars are unavoidably intermingled. (Sept.)' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Synopsis:Challenging books such as Richard Dawkinss "The God Delusion" and Sam Harriss "The End of Faith," a neuroscientist offers compelling evidence that it is God who creates spiritual experiences and not the brain. About the AuthorMario Beauregard's groundbreaking work on the neurobiology of mystical experience at the University of Montreal has received international media coverage. Before becoming a faculty member there, he conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Texas and the Montreal Neurological Institute (McGill University). Because of his research into the neuro-science of consciousness, he was selected by the World Media Net to be among the "One Hundred Pioneers of the 21st Century." He lives in Montreal, Canada. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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