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from the "number-of-the-beast"-is-natural,-whole,-rational,-real,-AND-imaginary dept.
Religious beliefs are not linked to intuition or rational thinking, according to new research by the universities of Coventry and Oxford. Previous studies have suggested people who hold strong religious beliefs are more intuitive and less analytical, and when they think more analytically their religious beliefs decrease.
But new research, by academics from Coventry University's Centre for Advances in Behavioural Science and neuroscientists and philosophers at Oxford University, suggests that is not the case, and that people are not 'born believers'. The study -- which included tests on pilgrims taking part in the famous Camino de Santiago and a brain stimulation experiment -- found no link between intuitive/analytical thinking, or cognitive inhibition (an ability to suppress unwanted thoughts and actions), and supernatural beliefs.
Instead, the academics conclude that other factors, such as upbringing and socio-cultural processes, are more likely to play a greater role in religious beliefs.
[Abstract]: Supernatural Belief Is Not Modulated by Intuitive Thinking Style or Cognitive Inhibition
Would you agree with this conclusion or do you believe that there is something else that influences people's religious beliefs ?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:23AM
Timothy Leary wrote a book called "Start Your Own Religion" back in 1966. The book is not long and some (all?) of it is reproduced here, http://www.luminist.org/archives/start_your_own.htm [luminist.org]
When I first found the book (randomly, in the stacks of a large library) I started paging through and was hooked, sat there on the floor and read it straight through. Many years later a friend invited me to lunch with Leary, one of the sharpest people I've ever been privileged to meet. I still cherish the memories of that afternoon.