User:Daask/sandbox/The "God" Part of the Brain

The "God" Part of the Brain is a book by Matthew Alper published in 2008.

Reception

"The modular theory of brain organization and function (Fodor 1983; but see Fodor 2000) is too often taken for granted by many cognitive neuroscientists— indeed, it has to be in order to get very far in localization studies because of the coarseness of lesion-correlation techniques and existing imaging techniques. Th e role of the modularity hypothesis in such research leads to colorful claims that a link has been discovered between an observable change in brain function and a phenomenological feature of the state of mind reported by the experimental subject. But such claims are inevitably strained, and we would feel much more comfortable with something other than gross regional correlations. A given region of the brain is potentially involved in many functions, and most interesting behaviors and states of consciousness have complex neural realizations. Thus, there is slender basis for unequivocally assigning an interesting phenomenological feature of an experience to one function in one brain region. The classic example of such hasty associations is talk of a God part of the brain (Alper 2001; and see the discussion in Ramachandran & Blakeslee 1999) or a God gene (Hamer 2005)—as if all religious people are interested in God, and as if the neural embedding of the vast variety of RBBEs can be localized to a single brain region. Neither premise is remotely sound."

References

• McNamara, Patrick; Wildman, Wesley (2008). "Challenges Facing the Neurological Study of Religious Behavior, Belief, and Experience". Method & Theory in the Study of Religion. 20 (3). Brill: 212–242. doi:10.1163/157006808x317455. ISSN 0943-3058.

Further reading

• "'God' in the Brain". Coast to Coast AM. 4 December 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Alper, M. (2008). The "God" Part of the Brain: A Scientific Interpretation of Human Spirituality and God. Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1-4022-3637-2. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Atheism, Daylight (1 March 2007). "Book Review: The God Part of the Brain". Daylight Atheism. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Atheist, Friendly (23 March 2007). "Book Review: The "God" Part of the Brain by Matthew Alper". Friendly Atheist. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "Belief and the brain's 'God spot'". The Independent. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "Black Sun Journal » Book Review: The God Part of the Brain". Black Sun Journal. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Bordeau, Michel-Camille (25 May 2011). "Freethinking in the Words of Matthew Alper". My Site. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "Does Religion Originate in the Brain?". Christian Research Institute. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Frye, Jason; Speckhardt, Roy; Poppei, Amanda (27 June 2013). "Icarus of Brooklyn: A Spiritual Quest Gone Wrong". TheHumanist.com. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "God Is In The Details » Brain World". Brain World. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Goldenberg, David (16 June 2009). "Gelf Magazine God, the Evolutionary Artifact". Gelf Magazine. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "Hardwired Hallelujahs". Notes from Ceylon. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Herman, Jonathan R. (6 May 2014). "The Spiritual Illusion". Method & Theory in the Study of Religion. 26 (2). Brill: 159–182. doi:10.1163/15700682-12341264. ISSN 0943-3058.
• "IBSS - Christian Counseling - The God-part of the Brain". Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "IBSS - Christian Counseling - The God-part of the Brain". Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies. 1 January 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "Neuroscience for the soul". The Psychologist. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "Nonfiction Book Review: The God Part of the Brain: A Scientific Interpretation of Human Spirituality and God by Matthew Alper, Author Sourcebooks $22.95 (273p) ISBN 978-1-4022-0748-8". PublishersWeekly.com. 4 September 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Reich, K. Helmut (1 December 2003). "Psychology of Religion and Neurobiology: Which Relationship?". Archive for the Psychology of Religion. 26 (1). SAGE Publications: 117–134. doi:10.1163/0084672053598012. ISSN 0084-6724.
• "Religious Experience Resources - Reviews". BU Personal Websites. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Sayadmansour, Alireza (22 June 2020). "Neurotheology: The relationship between brain and religion". Iranian Journal of Neurology. 13 (1). PMID 24800050. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "THE ORIGIN OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF by Aparthib". mm-gold.azureedge.net. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "The Brain & Spiritual Beliefs". Coast to Coast AM. 7 August 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "The Brain & Spirituality". Coast to Coast AM. 5 December 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "The God Part of the Brain". Skeptico. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "The Human Brain". Inicio. 31 January 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• "The Nature of Viruses / Neurology & the Paranormal". Coast to Coast AM. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
• Neuroscience of religion
• https://web.archive.org/web/20031118033140/http://www.psych-books.com/The_God_Part_of_the_Brain_0966036700.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20040127185758/http://www.phil-books.com/The_God_Part_of_the_Brain_0966036700.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20050119143157/http://www.enotalone.com/books/0966036700.html
• https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/282748.Matthew_Alper
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTugObmt_W0
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6YG8hjyLjc
• "‎Skeptiko – Science at the Tipping Point: Matthew Alper, Have Skeptics Lost Their Edge? - 448". Apple Podcasts. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.

External links

• Official website