The Neuroscience of Religious Extremism
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- Опубликовано: 4 окт 2024
- Learn about the psychological profile of religious extremists and the neuroscience of religious fundamentalism
This video discusses earn the emotional and cognitive indicators of extremism and neuroscience about the brain areas that contribute to this psychosocial phenomenon.
Extremism involves a strong sense of unity with fellow believers and a deep fear of outsiders. The parietal lobe is the brain area involved in our sense of connectedness with others and semblance of self. The amygdala is the fear center of the brain that may be triggered when outsiders threaten the extreme worldview of religious fundamentalists and cult members.
The content for this video is taken from the book Neurotheology: How Science Can Enlighten Us About Spirituality by neuroscientist and professor of religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Andrew Newberg.
www.amazon.com...
If you liked this episode, please like and subscribe. Also, for more content about psychology and neuroscience, follow Geoffrey Wallis on Instagram, Twitter and at wallisbooks.com.
#psychology #psychologyofreligion #neuroscience #neurotheology #cultpsychology #socialpsychology #mentalhealth #clinicalpsychology #brain #cognitivepsychology #religion #criticismofreligion #religioustrauma #fundamentalism #exfundie #extremism
Would apply to political extremism as well
What is politics but religion for adults?
@@TWMoore
That's silly to say politics is religion for adults. Simply silly.
If you're talking about the trumpies it would apply. 👵... From an old highly educated woman.
Thanks for commenting! In that politics are usually based on a belief systems or ideologies , they can function like religion at the neurological level. Additionally, political decisions are based on deeper psychological tendencies like attachment, avoidance, disgust, loss, and purity.
@@TWMooremarriage The Song of Solomon
8 “If only you were like my brother,
Who nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then if I found you outside, I would kiss you,+
And no one would despise me.
2
SYSTEMITES are deluded.
Their own "creators"...givem rope..try lovem, not easy I know coz they hate n dismiss so easily..get offended easiest too...pity them..I do
Fascinating video! It makes so much sense that the combination of the socially conforming parietal lobe and the fearful/arousing amygdala creates the perfect conditions for religious extremism.
I have recently been reading Jeff Hawkins’ book “A Thousand Brains” where he discusses how the brain uses ‘reference frames’ to map and conceptualize the world. It seems to me that religious beliefs are a kind of super/macro reference frame used by the brain to make sense of the seemingly inexplicable.
By the way, I love your channel and videos. Keep it up!
Thanks for watching and commenting. I think you are spot on. I haven’t read Hawkin’s book yet but you are the second person to mention it. Fodder for a future episode 🙏🏼
@@TWMoore Glad to hear that! And excited for that episode!
this is fascinating! thank you
Thanks!
I was always amazed at how some religious people can be perfectly rational in everyday life while totally irrational when it came to accepting some of the beliefs of their faith.
Yeah, irrationalism usually creeps out one way or another.
its similar to my tRumpf loving father,, who can fix or build anything from homes, auto's, to furnaces and washer & dryers & generators & water pumps etc etc,, but somehow believes every word out of mein tRumpf's mouth,, the disconnect is mind boggling !
That drawing of a brain suddenly triggered an intense caving for macaroni and cheese!
😂😂😂😂
Answered many doubts and posed solution to many issues, thank you
Glad it was helpful!
“Abby Normal brain.”
Good stuff here
Appreciate it
Speaking from the point of evolution, these parts of brain developed in order for us to survive better?
Yes. This of course is the paradox. Extreme connectivity of tribe was likely adaptive in earlier epochs of human history.
This verifies what Eric Hoffer wrote over 60 years ago.
I haven’t heard this name. Thanks. I’ll take a look 👍🏼
@@TWMoore Hoffer's "True Believer" was Pres Eisenhower's favorite book.
As one who is a "none", I have trouble not considering all organized religions to be cults. Probably not strictly correct by definition, but that is my view.
Thanks for your comment! Surely there is a spectrum.
Nice one.
Anything on the hypothesis that there is an epigenetic component? Cults often protein-starve their members, and there may be _in utero_ effects from hormones the mothers transmit via the placenta.
Plenty of members of extremes groups are well fed. However, physiological factors always play a role in cognition. Additionally, genetic factors can predispose an individual to depression, and anxiety leaving an opportunity for exploitation by the powerful.
@@TWMoore There's been a revolution in epigenetics, not so much genetics, over the past 20 years. Back when I worked on the Human Genome Project in the early 1990s the canon was that most of DNA was _junk,_ but it isn't. It comprises the control structures that determine which protein-coding genes are expressed due to environment, including _in utero._
Robert Sapolsky points out that political affiliation is 70% heritable (not inheritable). I don't know exactly what that means, but I think the details of politics would be barking up the wrong gum tree anyway. As a cognitive linguist/scientist I'm looking for the underlying mechanism, which is only peripherally related to actual ideology, too indirect to draw conclusions.
What I think generally is that there are different modes, which I oversimplify to two. One is for times of plenty, and optimal survivability involves generosity and coöperation. The other for times of hardship involves authoritarianism. _E.g._ diet does not determine but motivates the mode.
This is consistent with _e.g._ Axelrod's work with The Prisoners' Dilemma. The optimal solution for personal profit is Tit for Tat biased toward forgiveness, but even people who understand the math try to cheat, even when there is real money involved.
There is also the fairly recent discovery that oxytocin enhances in-group nurturing and also hostility to other groups, which is interesting.
Have you read Johnathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind? He roots political leanings in pre-conscious valence, a subtle approach/avoid tendency. This is likely determined by early childhood experience (programmed in the developing pre-affective brain) and social reinforcement at the biological level in the form of subconscious amygdalic reaction to rejection threat by the dominant value system.
This very subtle approach/avoid dichotomy, when brought to awareness in explicit consciousness, can be a jumping off point for moderating oneself. However, I believe it can be muted by social contagion.
@@TWMoore Yes I have. Haidt has much improved over the decades, but I generally prefer sources with more detailed neuroscience and epigenetics. Childhood experience is not the only factor-separated-at-birth studies show similar results, suggesting significant _in utero_ effects. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find more specific results than _stress hormones_ in general.
My own computer simulations suggest that there is something going on with the attention and focus mechanisms of the frontal gyrus. There are only a few things that can pay attention to at once. When some are devoted to _e.g._ things to be afraid of, there are fewer for _e.g._ language. Thus, the brain is less good at understanding puns and sarcasm and less able to look for ways to interpret speech in good faith. Some of the right temporal gyrus is affected as well, especially Wernicke's area, but it is unclear whether this is a direct effect or indirect because of how Broca's area, to implement predictive coding, uses the arcuate fasciculus to test hypotheses about expressing language. When people chant slogans, it seems to me this is reduced, and people operate on what Maureen Mullarkey (great name) calls _ideological microcode._
Please note that I do not find enough evidence to map this onto any particular ideology, but it clearly does map onto rationalism.
🙏❤
Thanks!
Secularization simply changes some people need for religion to idea. Since the beginning of the metal age few thousand years, human brain has been affected by metal to love ideas or stories in order to make sense of life.
I’m with you on the first point. I’ve never heard this before about the metal age. Can you provide a reference?
The mind is not generated in the brain but by a persons spirit. Therefore extremism depends on what spirit is doing the driving.
What is the connection between mind, spirit, and brain? Do they share any common denominator?
Interesting …a neurological explanation, sounds like the brain hard wired for extremism of all varieties, great, hopefully a treatment
If someone seeks to expand their viewpoint, it appears they are intrinsically drawn to it. This could have to do with genetics, personality types, chance encounters with outsiders, etc. I believe the most important thing about this kind of research is the humanizing of people with very intense belief systems, and the awareness of the community dynamics that can result in social polarization, and the radicalization of belief.
@@TWMoore
Too true
Extremismist ? Serious ? Try extremismus.
Damn it, Canva. Thanks for catching this
limited brain cells would be my guess. other than that this is click bait.
It’s not so much the quantity or quality of brain cells, but the way they connect through synapses. For example, people who comment on click bait don’t necessarily have fewer brain cells, they are just wired differently. I could be wrong tho.
@@TWMoore thanks for that. sometimes i just can't help myself. ;-}
It's a kind of stupidity.
If only it were that simple 🙏🏼
Well according to the Progressive Democrats. Have total faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ of Nazareth make us extremests.
@@davidkuharich9269 I mean, he has his edges. But it’s his Dad you gotta watch out for.
Religious extremism has nothing whatsoever to do with science ... let alone neuroscience. Apples and oranges.
Our experience of religion is produced and experienced by our brains.
@@TWMoore - Yeah? And? Big deal -
What point do you think you're making? Hunger also occurs in our brains.
What you need to do is remove the extremism from the religion. Those are two different topics.
Don't lump them together.
@@scotthullinger4684 Certain religious ideologies are referred to as “extreme”. Extremist religions have commonalities in their theological structure and the manifest behaviors of their constituents. These commonalities can be explained from a neuroscientific perspective as patterns of brain activity. Thanks for your comments!
@@TWMoore - "Extreme" is only in the eye of the beholder. More often than not, it's mere opinion.
You're going WAY off on a tangent to even mention crap such as "neuroscientist perspective."
Fake science. Wow - talk about going off the deep end.
Science applies to EVERYTHING. "Faith" is delusion, denial, and wishful thinking.
Drivel and nonsense.
Thanks for your comment.
Like believing you are in touch with some higher power. That is drivel and nonsense.