PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS

What did Ramachandran think caused religious experience?

Temporal lobe epilepsy

How did Ramachandran test his theory?

Assessed the galvanic skin response of people without and with temporal lobe epilepsy in relation to various images of religious, fearful and sexual content

What did Ramachandran’s experiments find about people who have temporal lobe epilespy?

Have a greater galvanic skin response to religious imagery than those without temporal lobe epilepsy

What did Ramachandran conclude about religious figures from his experiments?

Could have had temporal lobe epilepsy, which was the cause of their experiences (e.g. St Paul)

What did Michael Persinger think caused religious experience?

Michael Persinger thought that religious experience was caused by temporal lobe activity

What was the unique machine?

The God Helmet

What did Persinger think he could do with the God Helmet?

Artificially induce an experience that mirrors a genuine religious experience in a person

How many people who used the God Helmet claimed to have an experience?

Over 900

What did Persinger conclude about religious experience under the God Helmet? [4 points]

• People are deprived of the sense experience that allows them to distinguish themselves from everything else

• The sense of self expands to whatever the brain can sense

• The brain expands to fill a sense of infinity

• This is why people believe they are one with the universe

What was Ramachandran willing to accept may cause religious experience?

God interfering with the temporal lobes (e.g. as argued by Swinburne in response to criticisms of the Principle of Credulity)

What results did Persinger receive when he tested the God Helmet on the Franciscan Nun and Tibetan monks?

They claimed the experience was the same as what happened to them in meditative practice

What is the counter to the physiological experience?

All our experiences can be reduced to a series of neurological blips on a brain scan, but we do not doubt the validity of our normal sense experiences. Additionally, some thinkers have argued our brains are wired up to experience God.