Posted: Mar 13, 2018 12:49 pm
Macdoc wrote:Scientists have established a link between brain damage and religious fundamentalism
Bobby Azarian, Raw Story BOBBY AZARIAN, RAW STORY
12 MAR 2018 AT 16:36 ET
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. 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.
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https://www.rawstory.com/2018/03/scient ... mentalism/
It's the egg and the chicken again.
It could be linked to this 2014 study, showing that exposition to religious content impaired 5/6 y/o children to make the difference between the real and imaginary world. Maybe that is the source of the brain damage. Preventing children to develop a critical mind.