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The things that I would specifically call irrational on your part are; when you referred to my acceptance of the studies general findings as "faith" based and when you essentially referred to the study as unscientific or to use your colloquialism not "totally scientific". Also I believe that in...

Seattle Gal, You seem to be a very intelligent person so it is hard for me to believe that you do not understand the scientific process. This is a scientific study not a scientific law. Your questions are valid and while some have already been addressed others would be the subject of further...

No offense but Catholicism does seem to be a bit convoluted or perhaps even contrived in this regard.

I disagree. It seems obvious that you are reacting emotionally and not logically to this most recent subject. But for the sake of others let's just agree to disagree.

LOL ... That's retarded, Seattle Gal. Again why are you so hostile?

Because it is a consensus of experts in the field. Besides the general findings of the study jive with other studies I have read and my own personal experience. Why are you so hostile?

Is God anthropomorphic or non-anthropomorphic? And what makes you think so?

All of the peer reviews that I have read concerning the study refer to it as especially rigorous.

Scientifically speaking the mystical state would be described as a particular set of neurological states. I believe in the Johns Hopkins study they made use of a rigorous questionnaire and rubric to determine if the participants experienced a genuine mystical state. I'm not exactly sure what...

I was referring to the passage you quoted from the Gospel of Thomas. Your quote from John is only applicable as a very abstract analogy and again it doesn't have much of anything to do with neurotheology.

That is incorrect. The mystical state can be achieved through fasting or any of the other ascetic practices that I have mentioned. The thing with fasting is that there are greater health costs associated with it than with taking psilocybe. Also inasmuch as part of the purpose of religious...

There is a world of difference between the numb stupor induced by alcohol and the heightened sensitivity and awareness of psilocybe.

You might not agree that psilocybin can induce mystical experience but at least this has to do with neurotheology, the subject at hand, as it concerns the neurological mechanisms that lead to religious experience. One could also discuss how fasting, chanting, self-flagulation, meditation...

Thomas, I think that you are missing the point of neurotheology. Neurotheology is the study of religious experience from a scientific point of view. It has nothing to with the dogma and philosophic aspects of religion. I believe your discussion belongs in another thread.

I don't think it is that God resides in human neuro-systems so much as the potential for religious experience is there. Whether God is function of human religious experience is another question entirely.

Smoking marijuana is bad ... mkay.

Animals also decide how they evolve. That is what sexual selection is all about. If we collectively decide how we are going to evolve we would call that social selection. Anyway you slice it it is still natural selection and evolution still applies.

Wil, As indicated by other posts you have made in this forum you have no doubt had a look at my last post and had time to respond to it. So what say you? I have never read or heard anything similar to that which you have referred. Teal Leaf

I just discovered that Timothy Leary published a pamphlet titled Start Your Own Religion back in 1967 in order to encourage people to start new religions. I believe this is copy of the original pamphlet...

Who is "he"? And what study are you referring to? You are obviously not referring to the recent study done by Johns Hopkins University.