c. Religion is like 'sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll'?
A recent study that Medical News Today reported on found that religion activates the same reward-processing brain circuits as sex, drugs, and other addictive activities.
....since Karl Marx's time, neuroscience has kept narrowing the knowledge gap and providing us with much-more-needed answers to "age-old epistemological questions about the nature of sapiens' fictional reality of " consciousness, and spirituality.
a. There is growing evidence that religious beliefs and practices may be related to changes in the brain in ways that are directly relevant to mental health outcomes such as neurosis and cognitive functioning.
PART 2: Damage to particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness
Religious beliefs differ from empirical beliefs, which are based on how the world appears to be and are updated as new evidence accumulates or when new theories with better predictive power emerge. On the other hand, religious beliefs are not usually updated in response to new evidence or scientific explanations, and are therefore strongly associated with conservatism. They are fixed and rigid, which helps promote predictability and coherent to the rules of society among individuals within the group.
Brainwash from Young (Analogy= White shoe turning black)
Religious fundamentalism refers to an ideology that emphasizes traditional religious texts and rituals and discourages progressive thinking about religion and social issues. Fundamentalist groups generally oppose anything that questions or challenges their beliefs or way of life. For this reason, they are often aggressive towards anyone who does not share their specific set of supernatural beliefs, and towards science, as these things are seen as existential threats to their entire worldview.
The results showed that, as expected, damage to the vmPFC and dlPFC was associated with religious fundamentalism. Further tests revealed that this increase in religious fundamentalism was caused by a reduction in cognitive flexibility and openness resulting from the prefrontal cortex impairment. Cognitive flexibility was assessed using a standard psychological card sorting test that involved categorizing cards with words and images according to rules. Openness was measured using a widely-used personality survey known as the NEO Personality Inventory. The data suggests that damage to the vmPFC indirectly promotes religious fundamentalism by suppressing both cognitive flexibility and openness.
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) is a part of the prefrontal cortex in the mammalian brain. The ventral medial prefrontal is located in the frontal lobe at the bottom of the cerebral hemispheres and is implicated in the processing of risk and fear, as it is critical in the regulation of amygdala activity in humans. It also plays a role in the inhibition of emotional responses, and in the process of decision making and self control. It is also involved in the cognitive evaluation of morality.
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) is an area in the prefrontal cortex of the brain of humans and non-human primates. An important function of the dlPFC is the executive functions, such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning, inhibition, and abstract reasoning. However, the dlPFC is not exclusively responsible for the executive functions. All complex mental activity requires the additional cortical and subcortical circuits with which the dlPFC is connected. The dlPFC is also the highest cortical area that is involved in motor planning, organization and regulation.
.......all start subtly with young minds.....with bit by bit of neurosynaptic pruning, Karl's substance-like dosing and neurophysiological grooming............
..................sexual obsession....homosexuality.....paedophilia .......drug party
Numerous studies have found a negative relationship between religiousness and IQ
Since the 1920s, a substantial number of studies have found a consistent negative relationship between religiousness and IQ. Meta-analyses have shown that this relationship is in the region of − 0.2 in the general population, and around − 0.1 among college students (e.g. Zuckerman et al. 2013; Dutton 2014).
Similar negative correlations are also found between religiousness and diverse proxies for IQ, such as educational level and income (Meisenberg et al. 2012). The association is greater at the level of countries, with estimates of national average IQ being correlated with national average levels of religiosity at about − 0.6 (Lynn and Vanhanen 2012).
The negative religiousness–IQ nexus is found within most countries, with only a small number of exceptions (Meisenberg et al. 2012). The association can be found both among young and elderly samples (Ritchie et al. 2014). The more pronounced in its religiosity a group is, the lower the average IQ its members tend to possess (Lewis et al. 2011; Nyborg 2009), whereas members of high IQ organizations, such as the Royal Society, tend to be overwhelmingly atheist (Larsen and Witham 1998).
The evidence for a negative association between religiousness and IQ is thus robust.
Even premarital course should be scientifically educational - like care for offspring's eye, for examples:
Exposure to sunlight may reduce the risk for nearsightedness. Spending time outdoors is good advice for trying to reduce the chance of getting myopia. They recommend two hours of sunlight a day to help children avoid developing myopia.
How Religious Fundamentalism Hijacks the Brain-Fundamentalist ideologies act like mental parasites?
In moderation, religious and spiritual practices can be great for a person’s life and mental well-being. But religious fundamentalism—which refers to the belief in the absolute authority of a religious text or leaders—is almost never good for an individual. This is primarily because fundamentalism discourages any logical reasoning or scientific evidence that challenges its scripture, making it inherently maladaptive.
Scietifically, it is not accurate to call religious fundamentalism a disease, because that term refers to a pathology that physically attacks the biology of a system. But fundamentalist ideologies can be thought of as mental parasites. A parasite does not usually kill the host it inhabits, as it is critically dependent on it for survival. Instead, it feeds off it and changes its behavior in ways that benefit its own existence.
Essentially, the brain is a biological computer, and an ideology is a set of coded instructions, or “cultural software,” that is running on the brain’s hardware. Esteemed philosopher and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett insightfully described how ideas can control minds when he said, “The haven all memes depend on reaching is the human mind, but a human mind is itself an artifact created when memes restructure a human brain in order to make it a better habitat for memes.” In this regard, it is often not the brain that controls the mind, but the memes that compose the mind that control the brain. This is especially the case when the meme is a religion.
Likewise, if we spot a vampire these days, he will probably need to be advised to avoid the sunlight, may need heme or glucose infusion, or rarely, a liver transplant. Gene therapy may be an option in the near future
The Risk of Selling Snake Oil in the 21st Century - Retard
Current Truth: What in the universe happened? (Part 1)
Shortly after the Big Bang, the primordial nucleosynthesis happened and generated abundance of hydrogen and helium, i.e. the two lightest elements with an atomic number 1 and 2 respectively, which still dominate over the other elements that are rare compared to them.
Although hydrogen and helium make up respectively ≈ 92 and ≈ 7% of the baryonic matter in the universe, the other elements i.e. the remaining 1% is huge physical masses that have led to the emergence of life.
Within a diameter of over 93 billion light years, containing over 120 to 300 sextillion stars, it is estimated that the there are between 1078 to 1082 atoms ( between ten quadrillion vigintillion and one-hundred thousand quadrillion vigintillion) atoms. in the known, observable universe.
Current Truth: What in the universe happened? (Part 2) - The Life Cycle Of A Nuclear Reactor 1 'Stars'
Big Bang nucleosynthesis
The first nuclei were formed a few minutes after the Big Bang, through the process called Big Bang nucleosynthesis. After about 20 minutes, the universe had cooled to a point at which these processes ended.
Star Formation
Stars form from an accumulation of gas and dust, which collapses due to gravity and starts to form stars. Stars fuse light elements to heavier ones in their cores, giving off energy in the process known as stellar nucleosynthesis. Fusion processes create many of the other elements, up to and including iron.
Once an iron core is produced, the fate of the star is sealed. Since iron will not fuse to produce more energy, energy is lost by the productions of neutrinos through a variety of nuclear reactions. Neutrinos, which interact very weakly with matter, immediately leave the core taking energy with them. The core contracts and the star titers on the edge of oblivion. As the core shrinks, it increases in density. Electrons are forced to combine with protons to make neutrons and more neutrinos, called neutronization. The core cools more, and becomes an extremely rigid form of matter. This entire process only takes 1/4 of a second.
End of a Star
With a loss of pressure from core, the unsupported regions surrounding the core plunge inward at velocities up to 100,000 km/s. The material crashes into the now-rigid core, enormous temperatures and pressures build up, and the layers bounce upward. A shock wave forms, which accelerates and, within a few hours, explodes from the surface of the star rushing outward at thousands of km/sec.
Current Truth: What in the universe happened? (Part 3) - The Giant-impact hypothesis and the Formation Of Planet Earth
Planet Theia was orbiting the Sun, nearly along the orbit of Gaia, the proto-Earth. Theia might have eventually perturbed away from that relationship by the gravitational influence of Jupiter and/or Venus, resulting in a collision between Theia and Earth.
Theia could have struck Earth with a glancing blow and ejected many pieces of both the proto-Earth and Theia, those pieces either forming one body that became the Moon or forming two moons that eventually collided and merged to form the Moon.
Evidence published in January 2016 suggests that the impact was indeed a head-on collision and that Theia's remains can be found in both the Earth and the Moon. Additional evidence published this year suggests that Theia may have formed in the outer solar system rather than the inner solar system, thus making it analogous to a Kuiper-Belt object like Pluto, and that much of Earth's water originated on Theia.
Current Truth: What in the universe happened? (Part 4) - Collision: Double-edge sword - destructive, yet made life possible on earth
The impact between Earth and Theia occurred about 4.4 billion years ago, very early in Earth’s life. That’s when the Earth most likely received most of its carbon, nitrogen, and other volatile chemicals necessary for life to exist.
Theia planet had a sulfur-rich core, while its mantle and crust contained volatiles. When it collided with the Earth, it injected the chemicals necessary for life, like nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and sulfur, into the Earth’s crust. The collision also ejected massive amounts of material into space, which coalesced into the Moon.
For those who are studying the origin of life, the question is no longer whether life could have originated by chemical processes involving nonbiological components. The question instead has become which of many pathways might have been followed to produce the first proto-cells and micro-organisms.
Are prions related to the emergence of early life?
DNA and RNA are the modern cellular molecules related to the storage and processing of the genetic information. However, in the Earth primeval environment conditions, these two molecules are far from being the best option for this function due to their great complexity and sensibility to heat. Experiments have been showing that proteins are very stable and reliable molecules even in very extreme conditions and, under certain circumstances, could be related to the transmission of certain phenotypes that are inherited in a non-Mendelian manner. Prions, infective proteins ......
New study sheds light on evolutionary origin of oxygen-based cellular respiration
Researchers at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Harima, Japan have clarified the crystal structure of quinol dependent nitric oxide reductase (qNOR), a bacterial enzyme that offers clues on the origins of our earliest oxygen-breathing ancestors. In addition to their importance to fundamental science, the findings provide key insights into the production of nitrogen oxide, an ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Deep in the Mediterranean, scientists have discovered the first complex animals known to live without oxygen.
It was previously thought that only viruses and single-celled microbes could survive without oxygen long-term.
Most multicellar organisms, including humans, have structures inside their cells called mitochondria, which use oxygen to convert nutrients into energy molecules known as ATP.
Oxygen-Free Ancestor The new animals appear to have modified versions of mitochondria called hydrogenosomes, which can produce ATP without oxygen. Hydrogenosomes were previously known only in single-celled organisms.
The new animals are microscopic—each measuring less than a millimeter across—and they resemble tiny jellyfish.
When the oceans became oxygenated, there was an abundance of the energy-making chemical available to animals. They grew to larger sizes, and later on they adapted to land, and so on.
Current Truth: What on earth happened? (Part 1) - A Long, Hard and Life-defying Snail-paced Crawling To Natural Selection
(Spontaneous Chemical Self-assembly Process In A Very Different Early Environment Without Oxygen Gas Or Protective Earth's magnetic field)
An Extremely Hostile Environment Beyond Our WildestbImagination
The early Earth’s atmosphere was completely different and beyond our imagination. It could be highly reducing as opposed to oxidizing later days. Energy sources to drive initial chemical reactions available from UV solar radiation, radioactivity, electrical discharges (lightning), cosmic rays and solar wind (ward off by Earth’s magnetic field now). Volcanic and vent energy available near hydrothermal vents.
Organification and Polymerization
Certain materials are ambiphilic: they have a polar hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail. Hydrophilic materials can be dissolved in water. Self-assembly and formation of spheres, or micells, are natural as they permit surface area and free energy reduction. With sufficient concentrations, ambiphilic molecules will form a double-layer structure, or bilayer. Spheres, or bilayer vesicles, formed. High surface tension of water leads to large drops, not individual molecules. Concentration and polymerization of inorganic molecules happened spontaneously, and phospholipids could self-assemble into films forming semi-permeable membranes.
New pathways recently found for nucleotide self-assembly. A simpler abiotic-cum-nonprotein-producing RNA world had once existed. Protein transcription in Archaea and Bacteria have different forms implying they independently formed DNA genomes and methods of transcribing DNA into RNA.
Finally, the first protobiont would have only limited genetic information, but because their properties were heritable, they could be acted on by natural selection. Growth naturally controlled by supersaturation. Mutation (occasional copying errors) and natural selection leads to more stable and faster replicating varieties. Natural refinement to replace RNA by DNA as the repository of genetic information; being double-stranded it is more stable and accurately reproduced.
See how many 21st Century teachers fail their students, and why students fail themselves by not updating their knowledge to include modern day's god and ghost particles? Still talking about exorcism of tetanus and its risus sardonicus and opisthotonus?
Post a Comment
People who like this
New Topic
You should check in on some of those fields below.
Title
Category
Comment
Confirmation
Click Confirm to delete this Forum Thread and all the associated comments.
Report Abuse
Please Sign In to report this post as abuse.
Market Buzz
No result.
Featured Posts
MQ Trader
Introducing MY's First IPO Fund for Sophisticated Investors!
MQ Chat
New Update. Discover investment communities that resonate with your ideas
MQ Trader
M & A Value Partners IPO Equity Fund has been launched - Targeted 13% Return p.a
Latest Videos
0:17
New IPO: Swift Energy Technology Berhad, an industrial automation and power systems provider, aims to list on the ACE Market!
MQ Trader 5701 views | 5 d ago
0:17
New IPO: Carlo Rino Group Berhad, a leading fashion retailer of women’s handbags, footwear, and accessories, aims to list on the ACE Market!
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
EngineeringProfit
20,662 posts
Posted by EngineeringProfit > 2020-01-16 15:22 | Report Abuse
c. Religion is like 'sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll'?
A recent study that Medical News Today reported on found that religion activates the same reward-processing brain circuits as sex, drugs, and other addictive activities.
(Karl Marx's opium of all sapiens)