The Believing Brain - Michael Shermer [184]
Most people (scientists included) treat the God question separate from all these other claims. They are right to do so as long as the particular claim in question cannot—even in principle—be examined by science. But what might that include? Most religious claims are testable, such as prayer positively influencing healing. In this case, controlled experiments to date show no difference between prayed-for and not-prayed-for patients. What would compel me to believe would be something unequivocal, such as a new limb growing on an amputee. Amphibians can do it. The new science of regenerative medicine appears on the verge of being able to do it. Surely an omnipotent deity could do it.
Science and Belief
We now come to the end of this narrative journey of belief, but it is really just the beginning of a new understanding of how the brain generates beliefs and reinforces them as truths. Of the many mysteries we have uncovered and questions we have tried to answer, one in particular stands out. Homo rationalis—that species of human who carefully weighs all decisions through cold, hard logic and rational analysis of the data—is not only extinct but probably never existed. Mr. Spock is science fiction. And it’s a good thing, because people who have suffered brain damage to the emotional networks in their brains—particularly their limbic systems—find it nearly impossible to make even the simplest of decisions about the most mundane choices in life—which toothpaste to buy, for example: with so many brands and sizes and qualities and prices to consider, reason alone will leave you standing there in the store aisle, frozen in indecision. Analysis paralysis. An emotional leap of faith beyond reason is often required just to get through the day, let alone make the big decisions in life.
In the end, all of us are trying to make sense of the world, and nature has gifted us with a double-edged sword that cuts for and against. On one edge, our brains are the most complex and sophisticated information-processing machines in the universe, capable of understanding not only the universe itself but also the process of understanding. On the other edge, by the very same process of forming beliefs about the universe and ourselves, we are also more capable than any other species of self-deception and illusion, of fooling ourselves even while we are trying to avoid being fooled by nature.
In the end I want to believe. I also want to know. The truth is out there, and although it may be difficult to find, science is the best tool we have for uncovering it.
Ad astra per aspera!6
Notes
Prologue: I Want to Believe
1. “Harris Poll Reveals What People Do and Do Not Believe,” Harris, 2009, http://www.harrisinteractive.com/.
2. “Three in Four Americans Believe in Paranormal,” Gallup, June 16, 2005, http://www.gallup.com/poll/16915/Three-Four-Americans-Believe-Paranormal.aspx. Similar percentages of belief were found in this 2005 Gallup Poll:
Psychic or spiritual healing
55 percent
Demon possession
42 percent
ESP
41 percent
Haunted houses
37 percent
Telepathy
31 percent
Clairvoyance (know past / predict future)
26 percent
Astrology
25 percent
Psychics are able to talk to the dead
21 percent
Reincarnation
20 percent
Channeling spirits from the other side
9 percent
3. “Paranormal Beliefs Come (Super)Naturally to Some,” Gallup, November 1, 2005, http://www.gallup.com/poll/19558/Paranormal-Beliefs-Come-SuperNaturally-Some.aspx.
4. “Britons Report ‘Psychic Powers,’” BBC News, May 26, 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5017910.stm.
5. “Americans’ Belief in Psychic Paranormal Phenomena Is Up Over Last Decade,” Gallup News Service, June 8, 2001.
6. National Science Foundation, Science Indicators Biennial Report, 2002. The section on pseudoscience, “Science Fiction and Pseudoscience,” is in chap. 7, “Science and