#45 – Neurobiology of spiritual experience – part 3

The neurobiology of the spiritual relationship is such a big topic, we thought it would be good to hear from a second scholar who comes at this from a completely different angle. Dr. Sarah Lane Ritchie obtained her graduate degree in Theology and Science studying consciousness, neuroplasticity and religious belief … we couldn’t have found a better candidate for this topic!

Once again, we first talked about how humans relate to other humans (or our pets) before applying those ideas to our relating to God. Once again, the answer came back: the brain takes in external information through our senses, combines that with information already stored in our brains, does the math, and from that creates a model of reality (including our relationship with whomever is “out there”).

But that still raises the same problem for me that I raised last week when we talked to Erin: that very same neuronal pathway can be high-jacked by psychedelic drugs, by extreme mental/cognitive states (sleep deprivation; complete exhaustion; shamanic ritual; tantric sex). In fact, more to the point, we can even learn how to activate this pathway by “doing church” … developing a practiced routine that involves certain behaviors and patterns of thought. Could this in any way be behind the claims some people make about “feeling God’s presence”? Would that explain why some people get those experiences, and the rest of us don’t?

This got us sharing a few personal stories of being in church settings that shamelessly manipulated emotions and cognitive states in search of a spiritual experience.

As always, tell us what you think.

If you want to find more from Dr. Ritchie: https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/dr-sarah-lane-ritchie

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