Acceptance of supernatural beliefs
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the past half-century or so of evolutionary science, it’s that natural selection often works in unexpected ways. The […]
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Is the brain a computer?
Can human thought be understood as an elaborate form of computation? A quick survey of some of the most influential cognitive scientists (including Steven Pinker […]
Religion brings sadness to some
People participate in religion because it makes them happy, right? Sure – plenty of studies have indicated a correlation between religious involvement and mental health, […]
Who’s afraid of ETI? Religious beliefs not easy to shake
Would extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI) mean the end of religion on Earth? While many non-religious people tend to think this is the case, religious believers seem […]
Review of recent religion-and-science articles in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion
It seems that conversations about religion and cognitive science are heating up in the American Academy of Religion (AAR), the nation’s largest organization of religion […]
Book: The Spiritual Brain
Neuroscientist Mario Beauregard’s new book is titled The Spiritual Brain. He advances a case for the existence of the soul. Is it possible to agree […]
No free will? You’re more likely to cheat
Do you reject the idea of free will and believe that your actions are determined? If so, it turns out that you are more likely […]
Religious profile of the US is changing
The religious profile of the United States is changing as Protestants and Catholics shrink in proportion to non-Christian religions and the religiously unaffiliated. Yet people […]
Pew study finds most Americans devout, tolerant
You couldn’t tell from the polarized screaming matches between America’s religious liberals and religious conservatives. A Pew study involving phone interviews of 35,000 randomly selected […]
IN FOCUS: Reliability of religious experiences
William James wrote, “The overcoming of the barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystical achievement.” Richard Dawkins said, “If you’ve had […]