Neuropsychological Bases of God Beliefs [Hardcover]

Michael A. Persinger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1987

In this study, the scientific principles of learning and brain functions are applied to the God Experience. The author skillfully blends modern neurophysiology with critical behavioral psychology to offer an objective explanation for why people believe in God. This provocative and scholarly work will interest psychologists, neuroscientists, clergy, and anyone studying mystical experience.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MICHAEL A. PERSINGER is Professor of Psychology at Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers; 1 edition (October 15, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275926486
• ISBN-13: 978-0275926489
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Serious Contribution to Understanding god-belief, February 10, 2001

By 

Philip A. Stahl (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neuropsychological Bases of God Beliefs (Hardcover)

Michael A. Persinger's book deserves serious and dispassionate consideration - devoid of emotion and allegiance to preconceived notions. It may, in fact, be one of the most significant texts - albeit not 'recent' - that exposes the underpinnings of the ubiquitous compulsion to believe in god or supernatural 'influences'.

The evidence presented, for those who are objective, is also more than adequate to satisfy criteria of acceptability to support his underlying hypothesis: that god-belief as well as all supernaturalist-based experience arise in the brain's temporal lobes. Indeed, decades of experimentation, including earlier investigations by Wilder Penfield, reinforce Persinger's conclusions.

We cannot, on the basis of the cumulative experiments, rule out the strong possibility (I would even say probability) that the human brain is fundamentally defective, and may even be hard-wired to predispose uncritical humans toward religiosity and god belief. Also, it is important to note - Persinger's meticulously presented hypothesis and experimental support meets the requirements of the Ockham's Razor Principle: to wit, that theoretical existences are not to be increased without necessity. Hence, it is begging the question for critics to assert that 'not all religious experience can be explained by temporal lobe stimulation'.

The fact is, the ball is in *their* court to show why not, definitively, and that includes submitting a comprehensive hypothesis of their own to account for the spectrum of religious or 'supernatural' experiences. Persinger's results, by contrast, enable us to account for the diversity of religio-mystical experiences without having to postulate their (added)objective 'existence' to our physical cosmos. As Carl Sagan once said: "extraordinary claims demand extaordinary evidence", and the fact is a claim of genuine supernatural origin is more 'extraordinary' than Persinger's - that experiences arise from temporal lobe stimulations.

Persinger's text and his specific evidence also complements many recent advances in brain science and neurology, not to mention the rise of the 'strong AI' (for artificial intelligence) model to describe the brain. Indeed, Daniel Dennett in his own monograph ('Consciousness Explained') shows how a fully materialist model can explain all brain phenomena using a 'virtual machine' model.

The Persinger model and evidence also provides a complementarity with another useful concept - the 'meme' - rendered by Richard Dawkins. As Dawkins' has noted (see his book 'The Selfish Gene'), the meme is the cultural counterpart to the gene - and just as the gene transmits heredity, the meme transmits cultural baggage, and particularly beliefs. In this guise, the 'god-meme' appears, offering the advantage of comfort or at least certainty (in an uncertain world) to those who accept it with 'faith'. It is quite plausible, in this light - that there are chemical receptors in the temporal lobes for 'god-memes' or other memes of supernatural origin (i.e. for afterlives, or salvation).

Finally, Persinger's book presents a nice complement to my own recent book: 'The Atheist's Handbook To Modern Materialism' in which I note (p. 18):

"If the nearly universal need to believe in or worship a deity is grounded in brain architecture or operation then scientists and the general population must know about it. It's too important not to investigate scientifically, especially since the findings could be valuable in informing a more objective light on the issue. Such investigations could also shed light on why a minority group (Atheists) do not share this need to worship or adhere to god-concepts. Do they lack the requisite brain chemicals or wiring? Or, is there a brain self-stimulation dynamic present in believers' temporal lobes that is absent in the temporal lobes of unbelievers?"

At the very least, a positive finding - such as Persinger's excellent book affords, would release the millions of Atheists in the U.S. from being marginalized for not having a specific brain defect inducing them toward religiosity. For this, they ought to be extolled, rather than condemned. At the same time, the refutation of any absolute mode of origin for religious belief might cause believers to be more temperate about pushing their ideas on others. And perhaps, politicians would finally cease invoking an 'almighty' that resides only in their fervid brains.

Michael A. Persinger's book is a major milestone in ultimately attaining the aforementioned ends. And for that he deserves all kudos and commendations. I wholeheartedly recommend this text, and the price is more than worth the insight - for those who are tough enough mentally to accept it!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not what I thought it would be, July 16, 2006

By 

Aziliz (Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Neuropsychological Bases of God Beliefs (Hardcover)

I bought this book because I saw a documentary with Persinger in it about the effect of magnetic fields on the temporal lobe.

Persinger had developed headgear he called the 'God Helmet' or 'Transcranial Magnetic Stimulator' that produced weak magnetic fields. In his experiments 80% of those who wore the helmet reported extrasensory experiences. Persinger also developed a Tectonic Strain Theory about seismic faults causing intense electromagnetic fields and the effect on the brains of humans living in the vicinity.

I believed (wrongly) this book would be about these subjects. Unfortunately they don't even rate a mention.

The emphasis in this book is far more on the 'psychological' than on the the 'neurological'.

Although Persinger does mention electrical activity in the temporal lobe (including epilepsy) as a cause of "God Experiences" his covereage of the subject is really woefully inadequate--he barely touches it. Eve LaPlante's book 'Seized' covers this far better.

The reviews on this page that emphasise temporal lobe seizures as the basis of this book are very misleading and do not reflect the content of the book accurately. Repeat: There is no indepth treatment of the effect of electrical activity on the temporal lobe.

This book is more about his theories of 'God Experiences' and 'God Concepts' being the delusions of people with mental problems or a lack of intelligence and are actually demeaning and insulting.

Although, I agree with him God beliefs can be extremely destructive in people's lives and there is merit in some of his theories and explanations, his obviously huge antagonism towards God beliefs and experiences wholesale (despite claiming otherwise) makes his explanations biased, unbalanced and emotive.

As someone who is not religious but has had an NDE (near death experience) which I am interested in pursuing a scientific explanation for this book was of little value to me unless I accept the basis of my experience is that I am a dangerous loon.

If he writes another book that focusses on his electro-magnetic theories and experiments, I might still be interested in reading it, but after this book, with reservations.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for rational truth-seekers, March 25, 2002

By 

"chrisindenver" (Aurora, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neuropsychological Bases of God Beliefs (Hardcover)

This is a solid, well-supported work by the scientist who did much of the supporting research himself. For the atheist, agnostic, or skeptic, it provides a thorough, rational explanation for universal religious experiences, which transcends denominations and applies to all faiths.

For the theist, it challenges their faith by suggesting a biological/psychological explanation of religious experiences. Regardless of how subjectively real and compelling these experiences may seem, they can easily be reproduced by electrically stimulating a specific part of the brain, causing the exact same symptoms. I challenge any religious person who is confident in their faith to read this book with an open mind.