In which part of the brain do deities dwell?

[MineralMan]

In the brain stem's lizard brain? No, not likely. That part of the brain is about physical survival, maintaining the mechanisms of life, feeding, sex and escaping from danger. Lizard brain don't care.

In the cerebral cortex? Probably not. That's where reason dwells, and analysis of things. Decision making about complex things. Its the part of your brain that is where intelligence dwells. Reason. Rationality. It's not friendly territory for supernatural imaginary entities.

No, deities appear to dwell in the limbic part of the brain, the home of emotional responses, memories and feelings. That's their home. It's an important part of the brain, involved with comfort, pleasure, satiation, desires and such things. It interacts with both the lizard brain and the cerebral cortex, but doesn't always respond to either if needs exist.

That's the part of the brain that religious people are talking about when they talk about the heart. The heart isn't part of our thinking system at all. It's an organ designed to pump blood. It does react to brain signals, of course. When you're afraid, it speeds up to help you act immediately when your lizard brain tells you to run away or fight. It also amps up brain activity when you have an opportunity to have sex. The lizard brain is very interested in that.

The heart also responds to signals from the limbic system. That's why you tend to feel pleasurable emotions as though they came from the part of your body where the heart is located. But, that's just a reaction to signals from the brain and various hormone-producing glands. Deities don't live in your heart. It's a pump.

Our brains are complicated things. We don't completely understand how the brain works. We're working on that understanding, scientifically, and learning more all the time. Those deities are in there somewhere, for sure.

[Turbineguy]

1. The

small head.

For men anyway.

[Cartoonist]

2. The first part

That's where the big bang is. What develops later is just extra.

[guillaumeb]

3. I understand that this position is a necessary belief for you.

We all have beliefs, as well as a need to justify them to ourselves as logical and correct.

[MineralMan]

5. It's not MY position, Guy.

It's an evidence-based position. I learned about it because my work requires me to understand why people do things. I'm good at my work. If you wish, you can search for any of those terms and discover the same things for yourself.

No beliefs are necessary for me. I do whatever investigation I need to do and find the answers I need. It's not a matter of belief, actually. It's a matter of facts.

[guillaumeb]

6. You seem to be confused as to what constitutes evidence.

And that confusion is what underlies some of your beliefs.

[MineralMan]

7. I can only repeat:

Bye, Felicia...

[guillaumeb]

8. A better response.

But considering the unusual claim in the original post, probably the best one to be made.

[MineralMan]

11. Do you believe that a deity actually exists?

Simple question. A one-word answer will suffice.

[trotsky]

9. Do you have any evidence at all your god exists outside your brain, g?

Any whatsoever?

[MineralMan]

10. I'm still trying to ascertain whether or not that poster

believes that any deity actually exists. Another unanswered question, I believe.

[trotsky]

12. You'll never get an answer.

He dodges any difficult questions with lame memes like "the choir" or "that's your belief", etc.

[MineralMan]

13. That's not a difficult question at all.

Either he believes that a deity exists or he does not. I don't care, one way or another, but it's a bone simple question.

I've given my answer: I don't believe any deities or other supernatural entities exist at all.

Maybe that's Guillaume's answer, too. How am I to know unless he tells me?

[trotsky]

14. A difficult question, no.

A difficult question for HIM, yes.

There is former prolific DUer, since banned, who was also notorious for dodging simple, straightforward questions. Primarily because he wasn't here to discuss, but only to disrupt.

[MineralMan]

15. I suppose so.

It's a shame, though, that people can't simply say what they believe or disbelieve. When asked whether I believe that any deities exist, I am not ashamed to say that I do not believe they do. I would think that someone who does believe would be equally unashamed to say so. Why be cautious in that matter?

Paul wrote, in his letter to the Romans:

Romans 1:16King James Version (KJV)
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Given the call to spread the word, I'd think anyone who was a believing Christian would be glad to declare his or her belief. When someone refuses to do so, I wonder whether or not I am dealing with an honest person, really, and I don't like having doubts about people.

It's really a matter of no concern to me whether any individual person has such beliefs. It's all a philosophical discussion, as far as I'm concerned. Hedging on such a simple question is incomprehensible to me, really.

As for the former DUer you mention, I'm sure I know to whom you are referring. A very frustrating person to discuss things with and prone to anger, as well.

[Mariana]

17. It seems pretty common among religious people

that they flatly refuse to answer questions about what they believe. I don't know why that is. It's not just on DU, either, this also happens in real life. Do they not know what they believe? Are they ashamed of their beliefs? What is the problem with answering these very simple questions?

[MineralMan]

18. Discussions of religion are fairly rare in my circle of acquaintances.

They occur occasionally, though. If asked, I just say that I'm an atheist and don't have any religious beliefs. That is accepted as readily as someone saying they are a Lutheran, really. It's just a bit of information that informs the discussion. If the discussion gets downright theological, which happens only rarely, more detail is brought into the discussion by the participants.

Here in the Religion Group, our only topic is religion. I don't understand the reticence in this setting at all.

[AtheistCrusader]

16. It's not a belief. It's observable fact.

In epileptic patients, traumatic brain injury recoveries, lightning strike survivors, you name it.

The physical structure of the brain can alter, induce, or change religious belief. We can induce religious feelings in people with transcranial magnetic probes.


That's not 'belief'. That's YOUR speciality.

[MineralMan]

19. Yes, and recent research using functional MRI scans

are providing much more detail on where brain activity takes place in different circumstances.

[delisen]

4. Maybe where hallucination and illusion resides?

but I think we operate with very limited information and knowledge and think that there may be forms of life and avenues to knowledge we do not comprehend due to our own sensory and cognitive limitations-even with the aids with have devised.

[MineralMan]

20. Here's an interesting article on some fMRI research

on religious activity in the brain. There are lots of scientific papers on the subject, but this article simplifies what is being found, without requiring a lot of technical knowledge:

https://unews.utah.edu/this-is-your-brain-on-god/

I recommend it for readers interested in this topic.