Best Place to Worship, Nature

So, I “put down to” science, the science of religion.
There is a certain irony in that. The science of studying that which is not scientific itself...........
So, I “put down to” science, the science of religion. -- me
I knew it was a little clunky when I wrote it. First, there is a science of religion, I took an edx course on it. It looks in to where it came from, how it developed, got passed on, it's good and bad effects. It's a combination of anthropology, psychology, neurology, a little history.

Simon originally said we would take what he described and "put it down to ‘controlled hallucinations’ ". I don’t know what a ‘controlled’ hallucination is, so I wouldn’t do that, but I would use the science of belief and how it leads us to relate to the world to explain why he thinks he prayed and was granted a Bible verse citation from God.

I don’t know what a ‘controlled’ hallucination is, so I wouldn’t do that, but I would use the science of belief and how it leads us to relate to the world to explain why he thinks he prayed and was granted a Bible verse citation from God.
Actually it is a term used by Anil Seth (neuroscientist) and while at first this may seem a unusual way to address the brain's relationship to reality, after watching this most informative presentation, the term "controlled hallucination" begins to make sense.

It caused me to look at reality in a much wider perspective. I have watched it many times and each time discovered a new aspect in the condensed lecture. (a much longer a detailed lecture is available on YouTube.)

 

@mrmhead

citizenschallengev3, So is that on your land then? Nice.
To keep the record straight. Nope I don't own it. All I own is an old pick'em up truck and a decent set of carpentry tools and ladders and a pile of old Apple computers in the shed. We rent the cabin. If I told you the chain of serendipitous links that landed me here, nearly ten years ago, you wouldn't believe me. We're on our second landlords, and man did we get lucky with that terrifying sale period a few years back.

One the first things the middle aged couple, who wound up buying it, asked us about was whether we were okay with them being atheism. And, if we wanted to live there long term, big grins all the way around. The ladies are best of friends, him and I get along well, and they have two young children. Homes are pretty near cheek by jowl, a few outbuilding, but the other 39 1/2 acres are varied and beautiful.

It’s too cute, even down to their 185lb Newfoundland boyfriend, to our 45lb, cute as a button, sheppard mix, girlfriend.

W4U recently I saw where a learned guy took issue with how Anil Seth used Hallucination, but I was too occupied with something else to make a note of it. Though, my lips are shut, at least until I rewatch the video. Thanks for making me double think it.

W4U recently I saw where a learned guy took issue with how Anil Seth used Hallucination,
Yes, I think he interpreted the term from a more limited clinical perspective than as a naturally occurring mental construct performed by the brain as a survival mechanism.

Consider the chessboard example where squares A and B clearly show different shades of gray

The brain sees square B as lighter because it expects that the shadow makes it look darker than it is. The reality is that the shade is exactly the same color as square A. This may be considered a controlled hallucination, a result of an evolved survival mechanism.

It is almost unbelievable, experiencing your own mind actually reverting back to the controlled hallucination after being shown that the shades are exactly the same. I have spent hours in trying to match the two shades, but it’s impossible, the brain just won’t allow it. The controlled hallucination persists, no matter if you know that your brain is being fooled.

OTOH, in the language example, Seth demonstrates how quickly the brain can adjust its expectation after having been given a single hint.

This lecture is truly enlightening and illustrative of how the brain experiences sensory input and how that shapes it’s interpretation .

continued…

< Anil Seth: How Does Your Brain Construct Your Conscious Reality?
October 5, 2018 9:24 AM ET

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