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33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Serious Contribution to Understanding god-belief, February 10, 2001
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!
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by Ken Wilber
See all 11 books this book cites
