The Science of Mysticism

jmm
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The Science of Mysticism

Someone mentioned the science of mysticism in another thread, so I decided to start a thread about one over here. 

I've seen probably 2 science of mysticism related reports in print and on television.  I don't have television myself, though, so there may have been more than just 2.  

The first was the "God Helmet".  I was fascinated beyond belief when I first heard about it.  I still am.  

The second and most recent was the piece on near death experiences that aired on Penn & Teller:  Bullshit! a while back. 

So is there an interest in this around here?  I just wanted to check before I went off on another diatribe.  

Additional linkage and resources would be much appreciated. 

 


Yellow_Number_Five
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New Agers, aka woo-woos,

New Agers, aka woo-woos, infuriate me as much if not more than creationists.

 If you've ever spent more hours than you should debating the "Tao" of sine waves, you know what I mean. (see, it goes up and down, that's Yin and Yang dude!, lol)

It's really just a sort of psuedo-intellectual mindset coupled with a desire to believe that leads otherwise bright people down such paths. "What the Bleep do we Know?" Anyone?

Then there's the Time Cube guy.

 

 

I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. - Richard Dawkins

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Yellow_Number_Five
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As an example of what I'm

As an example of what I'm talking about, I cite Deepak Chopra saying that he cannot be harmed, because you only exist in his mind and vice versa, or the twits in "What the Bleep" claiming that the Native Americans could not see Columbus's ships, because they had no concept of huge sailing vessles.

There's bollocks, and then there's utter fucking bollocks.

I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. - Richard Dawkins

Atheist Books, purchases on Amazon support the Rational Response Squad server.


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To the OP;  Are you

To the OP;  Are you talking about the science behind what people experience to be mystical?  "God Helmet" being reference to the experiments which excite certain areas of the brain inducing a "meaningful" experience for the subject(In the case of a devoutly religious subject, there will be a religious experience.  A UFO nut might see an alien, et al.).

 

If so, I'm very interested in that, and can probably find some stuff for you to read.