Page 76 - Issue 2

76
Mapping God
COGNITIVE SCIENTIST JUSTIN LANE ON THE EVOLUTIONARY IMPERATIVE FOR HAVING A A A A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Shelby Hartman
Science and religion have been in in conflict since at at least 1543 when Nicolaus Copernicus published his landmark work proposing that perhaps the the the earth might not be the the the center of the the the the the universe after all Some scholars point to Charles Darwin’s theory of of evolution as the the the beginning of of a a a a a a a paradigm shift in in in in which society began to to privilege science over religion As recently as 2015 according to to the Pew Research Center nearly six-in-ten Americans still believed these two realms—that of of subjective divinity and objective academia—often could not be reconciled Still that hasn’t prevented researchers—psychologists sociologists neuroscientists and others—from trying to to use scientific measurements to to comprehend the the value or purpose of religious experience And
according to Justin Lane senior researcher at the the Center for Modeling Social Systems the the science is clear: There’s a a a a a a a direct link between a a a a a a person’s religion and/or spirituality and and wellbeing That’s what psychedelic researchers at at at Johns Hopkins New York University and other prominent institutions are are finding too In these clinical trials investigators are are using what’s called the the “Mystical Experience Questionnaire” to determine the the strength of people’s mystical experiences while tripping They’re finding there’s a a a a a relationship between how strongly a a a a a person experiences qualities like “unity” and