Brain Differences Found Between Believers In God And Non-believers

Just a snip from the article ..read the rest at link

Brain Differences Found Between Believers In God And Non-believers

[Compared to non-believers, the religious participants showed significantly less activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a portion of the brain that helps modify behavior by signaling when attention and control are needed, usually as a result of some anxiety-producing event like making a mistake. The stronger their religious zeal and the more they believed in God, the less their ACC fired in response to their own errors, and the fewer errors they made.]
www.sciencedaily.com...

Faith really does have a huge impact on people who believe ..it is what gets me up everymorning seeing the world in a new light everyday ..instead of just giving up when all looks so hopeless around us (You have to admit there is not much hope in the way this world is right now) ......
Not to mention it is so much easier to forgive yourself if you believe you are forgiven ...which is why I believe Christians have an easier time picking themselves back up and just moving on after making huge mistakes in their lives..while nonbelievers tend to hold everything against themselves so much that they even give up trying to change the things they hate about themselves .and the mistakes they have made and they just continue in deeper and deeper into spiritual death which makes them already dead spiritually before they actually die in the flesh (They have no faith so they have no hope and when you have no hope then your already defeated and are just a walking dead person waiting for the body to die too ) ...........



[edit on 5-3-2009 by Simplynoone]

Wow, thats actually kind of cool. Nice find Linda. But I am curious as what the scientist who found this were actually looking for it or stumbled on it by accident. Nice find again, Linda!

Originally posted by Simplynoonewhile nonbelievers tend to hold everything against themselves so much that they even give up trying to change the things they hate about themselves .and the mistakes they have made and they just continue in deeper and deeper into spiritual death which makes them already dead spiritually before they actually die in the flesh (They have no faith so they have no hope and when you have no hope then your already defeated and are just a walking dead person waiting for the body to die too ) ...........

I know alot about the god gene but you've projected alot of your own misconceptions about non believers here. Hope does not nessecarily go and in hand with faith. Being spiritual does mean you have to have faith and having faith does not mean you need to believe in god. For instance.. I have faith in humanity and that is a huge leap of faith but I am also an atheist. Some people believe in aliens yet they've only seen UFOs.. that requires an element of faith.

I think it's a very interesting subject but you've brought up.. I just think it's a real shame you had to put a "non believers are the walking dead" spin on it. I've met alot of believers that are miserable.. believing has not made their lives easier.

I am not a believer, though I know certain things, I refuse to accept things on pure faith. And yet after leaving the church my life has become wonderful. Actually Christian faith, especially Catholic, puts on a lot of pressure. Everything I see in my life, and the lives of my ring of friends, disproves your claim. I see atheists not not taking their errors as final and belivers seeing everything in dark colors. It really depends on the person not beliefs.

reply to post by Simplynoone

They have no faith so they have no hope and when you have no hope then your already defeated and are just a walking dead person waiting for the body to die too

That is a powerful statement, as one atheist told me when you die you become a pile of dust with no hope for future life ever. How sad, 60-100 years and then gone for all eternity. Faith and hope are powerful psychological tools to help humans cope with problems. I remember I movie line from the Matrix that said "Hope" is the greatest strength and greatest weakness of humans, I would agree because a false hope creates great weakness, but real solid hope creates a solid faith that see's beyond even death.

The trick is, figuring out what hope is real, and which hope is false.

For me, I have personally found it.

Acts 24:15

Having [the same] hope in God which these themselves hold and look for, that there is to be a resurrection both of the righteous and the unrighteous (the just and the unjust).

So as tragic as the loss of life is in places like Haiti where thousands upon thousands have died, I take comfort that as Jesus said they are now sleeping in death, and one day will rise again on this earth. And that is one fantastic hope, for all humanity.

Interesting that you left out this part:

"But Inzlicht cautions that anxiety is a "double-edged sword" which is at times necessary and helpful.

"Obviously, anxiety can be negative because if you have too much, you're paralyzed with fear," he says. "However, it also serves a very useful function in that it alerts us when we're making mistakes. If you don't experience anxiety when you make an error, what impetus do you have to change or improve your behaviour so you don't make the same mistakes again and again?"

Personally I would rather work with people who experience enough anxiety in their mistakes that they determine to perform the task correctly next time or better yet, to find more efficient means of completion. Religionists on the other hand tend to be extremely rigid and unapt to adapt to an environement in flux. And besides, have you ever worked with someone who makes mistakes - sometimes very serious mistakes - but never takes them seriously? A "team player" like that only increases the amount of work everyone else has to do. Thanks but no thanks!

As a professional psychologist I can tell you what this study indicates to me. In a nutshell what it reveals is that unbelievers are more aware of themselves and their surroundings than religionists. The consciousness of the unbeliever is in general more highly developed than it is in the religionist.

They have no faith so they have no hope and when you have no hope then your already defeated and are just a walking dead person waiting for the body to die too

I'm an atheist.
I love life.
I hope to make a successful impact on every person I meet, that I'll make them laugh, lend a hand or a shoulder when they need it, and help them on their path.
I have hope that people will one day put their differences aside, and work together.
I have hope that the technology that will come out in the future, that I've seen detailed in science magazines will benefit us in the long run.
I have hope in my friends, and in my family.

I make success, mistakes, failures, and at the end of the day, brush myself off, adjust my hat, and smile.

It's a beautiful world, I don't need God to be happy, I don't need God to be a good person, I don't need God to have hope.

[edit on 19-1-2010 by RuneSpider]

reply to post by RuneSpider


That's all good.

But tell me what hope do you have for yourself and your loved ones beyond death?

Ponder & mediate on that.

Originally posted by Blue_Jay33
But tell me what hope do you have for yourself and your loved ones beyond death?

There are no gods, no angels, no demons, no spirits, no souls, no spirit world, no heaven, no hell, no afterlife. So to an atheist your question is senseless and absurd. Just as absurd as asking "What will you do if you sail off the edge of the Earth?" It won't happen. The Earth being a sphere has no edge to sail off of.

Now I would ask you, why are you so afraid of death?

reply to post by Lilitu


You never answered the question.

But I will answer yours. I am not afraid of death at all, I view life as precious and I would certainly not want to die. However if I was to die, or somebody I love dies, I know that is not the bitter end of things for us. One day we will see each other again, just not immediately, that is my hope.

So I will repeat the question, what is your hope beyond death?

People are people and people are different.

This means nothing to me.

Originally posted by Blue_Jay33
You never answered the question.

I answered your question in the first paragraph. My apologies if it wasn't the morbid phobia induced answer you were hoping for. Your question is absurd because none of those constructs which I mentioned exist. Furthermore aside from its absurdity your question was unnecessarily vague. I don't know whose death you are referring to, my death, the death of a loved one or just death in general.

Originally posted by Blue_Jay33
I am not afraid of death at all...

I think you are afraid of death, you denial notwithstanding. Your question was designed to induce awe, uncertainty and fear of the inevitability of death. That is what you know. It is the primary selling point of every religion.

reply to post by Lilitu


Since you absolutely refuse to answer the question I will answer for you.

Because I know the answer, I have talked to enough atheists over the years to know what the answer is.

You have no hope beyond death, you can't hope to see your loved ones again. According to atheistic philosophy death is the absolute end.
Just a pile of dust and bones and eventually nothing as your atomic matter reunites with the earth. And there is no hope.

Let me ask you this, how do you handle funerals? Do you go to them?
Has anybody really close to you ever died?

Sometimes I wonder how an atheist grieves for lost dead ones that they really care about, because their grief must be very deep and profound knowing that is the absolute bitter end. 100% no chance to ever see or talk to them again.

Originally posted by Blue_Jay33
Since you absolutely refuse to answer the question I will answer for you.

WOW! You religionists are really pushy and temperamental, not to mention presumptuous! I have already answered your question but your crippled world view is far too rigid to accept any answer that doesn't bow to your universal scheme of things. Why so rigid? Just a few years of religious influence and rigor mortis is setting in already?


[edit on 21-1-2010 by Lilitu]

reply to post by Lilitu


Our conversation can be simply summed up below.

Religious person: "What hope do you have beyond death?"
Atheist: "Don't be absurd, that question doesn't apply to me!"
Religious person: "Oh." (realizing the concept of even mediating on this question is taboo for an atheist) Walks away.

Originally posted by Blue_Jay33
reply to post by Lilitu

 

Our conversation can be simply summed up below.

Religious person: "What hope do you have beyond death?"
Atheist: "Don't be absurd, that question doesn't apply to me!"
Religious person: "Oh." (realizing the concept of even mediating on this question is taboo for an atheist) Walks away.

Ah there you go presuming to speak for me again. Lilitu won't play so you make up an imaginary "Lilitu" with an imaginary dialog to suit your fancy. Have fun with that because tomorrow we die.