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Title: Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief by Andrew, Md. Newberg, Eugene, Ph.D. D'Aquili, Vince Rause ISBN: 034544034X Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 26 March, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.92
Rating: 3
Summary: Speculative books are OK when held lightly
Comment: == Ardent religious adherents AND ardent hard-minded neurologists will both dislike this book. ==
This book is first and foremost the speculative interpretation of a certain set of brain experiments (SPECT scans) on sets of certain subjects (Tibetan Buddhists & Franciscan nuns) during deep spiritual meditation.
The speculation boils down to this:
"At the heart of our theory is a neurological model that provides a link between mystical experiene and observable brain function. In the simplest terms, the brain seems to have a built-in ability to transcend the perception of the individual self" (p.174)
Those brain states are not ones associated with delusion or imagination; instead they seem unique. And the authors then ask the question: "why would our brain be structured in such a way as to accomodate this ability?"
This book *IS* speculation. But that is not inherently a bad thing. The authors are exploring unknown territory: the possible relations between brain functions and spiritual/religious experiences. And they do so in a tentative, cautious tone with no pretense of having figured anything out, except that this is a profoundly intriguing topic. Indeed, it is the lack of determined opinion one way or the other that will likely infuriate the religious adherent AND the hard-nosed materialist.
It is an easy and lightweight read, and it's speculations should be held lightly. The chapters on brain function are *extremely* simplified (a source of infuriation for the hard-core 'scientific' readers), but sufficient to convey what is necessary to their discussions. Likewise, the breadth/depth of the spiritual/religious topics are highly simplified and generalized. But again, this book is not meant to be exhaustive on either area - it is only a conveyance of some interesting speculations.
If you like a book that can pique your interest without giving you mountains of data or any definite final answers, then you might enjoy this one.
Rating: 2
Summary: more about philosophy than science
Comment: I expected a book about "brain science" to be, well, scientific. I would categorize Newberg, D'Aquili, and Rause's book as philosophic, or perhaps mystic, but certainly not scientific. While the book contains some description of their method and findings, the description is so vague that the reader is given no understanding of how "brain science" can foster such voluminous speculation that pervades this book. That said, I was intrigued by the philosophy and the speculation about the origins of mysticism and its relationship to ritual and religion. And, if I wasn't so disappointed by the books title, I might have given it a slightly better rating.
Rating: 1
Summary: Mythology, mysticism and malarkey
Comment: The Pope of Paleontology once bemoaned the woeful inadequacies of education in evolution in America. The authors of this book represent a prime example of the validity of Stephen Gould's lament. It may seem an oversimplification of the authors' theme to call it "neurotheology" or "hardwired for gods", but their case is so overstated that perhaps a balance is thereby achieved. Relying on Buddhist meditators and praying nuns, the authors recorded brain activity states to compare with "normal" conditions. They then go on to link various areas and functions of the brain to demonstrate that religion is an evolutionary product. For the prurient reader, they contend that the transcendental feelings we obtain from sex links through the limbic system to other parts of the brain becoming the foundation for "religious experience". Freud would have loved this book.
The authors map the brain/mind to build a framework to explain the universality of religion. Their outlook is almost entirely from Western Civilization - even the Buddhist meditators are American. From this flimsy foundation and the contributions of some Western philosophers, the authors go on to construct their edifice. The brain, they argue, is designed as a "window to [g]od" which they rename the Absolute Unitary Being. They contend that gods are not the product of a cognitive, deductive process, but were instead "discovered" in a mystical or spiritual encounter. Shoring up their structure with numerous spurious assertions of the brains' processes, they see this capability having been designed through evolution. Not since the concept of "the Great Chain of Being" have humans been granted such a glorious role. GCoB exalted reasoning as giving humans "superiority" over the rest of the animal kingdom - telepathy to the divine was a step too far.
Many fine books reflecting recent brain research have been published in recent years. While their descriptions of brain processes make vivid reading, there are far better sources available on the topic. The authors cite a few and ignore the rest. The ones they cite utilise information with adroit selectivity. In fact, most of their sources have been chosen with finesse. A glaring omission is Walter Burkert's Creation of the Sacred. Whatever Burkert's flaws he, at least, makes a serious attempt to extract valid evolutionary roots for religious ideas. Newberg and D'Aquili begin with the premise that there is a god [one, please note] and then manipulate neurological research to "discover" it. Like Burkert, this pair ignores the power of memes to propagate ideas and stimulate response behaviour, a major element in the dissemination of religious thought, but Richard Dawkins is ignored in this book at any level. It's interesting that after pages of "neurotheology" explaining how the brain is there to communicate with a god, at the end they waffle over its actual existence.
Although the flaws in the authors' logic are immeasurable, their frequent references to human evolution display even more glaring faults. They assert that Australapithicines likely didn't have sufficient brain power to invoke deities, but grant this level of intellect to Homo erectus. They assert H. erectus was the first to have a mind capable of considering "existential dread", but unable to perceive their deity. Not until H. Neanderthalis did the concept of deities arise, which they claim is evidenced by ritual burials. Ritual burial and deities are linked in today's world, but there isn't a shred of evidence to suggest this is the way of Neanderthal thought. Nor is there any reason to believe that "dread" alone was the prime mover in considering the natural world. Benefits were clearly available - successful hunts, available fruits and vegetables, water - were these not also granted divine status? Their theme, rife with inconsistencies, keeps the deity at arm's length until a hominid evolved to talk to It. That presupposes 3.6 billion years of their god waiting in limbo. Divine patience, indeed! And if the Chixculub asteroid had missed the Earth, who would the AUB communicate with today? [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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