Are Atheists Mostly Left Brained?

It has been my thinking or my questioning for a long time the possibility of why so many atheists seem to have difficulty understanding or accepting knowledge that is not strictly left brain – provable. Why philosophical understandings or perceptions are usually discounted or downplayed. It is like: intelligence = evidence! Otherwise, you can be considered foolish by those who count on only provable evidence. Then why do we even have a right brain? Why only provable evidence, and only through science? Why so limited and narrow? I have come up with an idea that may have some relevance.

I understand the issues so many atheists have regarding God on an emotional level (speaking for many). But I wanted to see if there is a correlation between the person who believes in a God or power with consciousness, versus one who fights it.

Scientists have discovered the; “God Module.” www.atheistempire.com...
is an atheist article which discusses this phenomena.

Synopsis: Findings seem to point to a region of the brain commonly referred to as the 'God Spot' or 'God Module', that when stimulated creates hallucinations that are interpreted as mystical or spiritual experiences. This 'spot' is stimulated during meditation and prayer and is affected by electromagnetic fields and epilepsy. The resulting hallucinations may be the cause of mystical, spiritual and paranormal experiences as they can give feelings such as a presence in the room or an out of body experience. For those who experience the stimulation it is explained related to their own personal beliefs; a visit from an angel or lost loved one, an extraterrestrial encounter, a higher plane of consciousness or a visit from God.

A hallucination is a word they use to justify something they cannot understand or possibly accept. It is not a fact even though it is interpreted as so. Keeping in mind that this is a focused study with overtones subjected from atheist beliefs. It is still a good thing that they are identifying it, even if they find the need to minimize it.

Which brings us to the most intriguing conundrum posed by the discovery of the God Spot. It's a double-edged sword shoved right through the heart of the science vs. religion debate, bearing either good news or bad news for the faithful masses depending on how you answer the chicken-or-the-egg question: does it mean that God created our brains, or that our brains created God?

Or that God is indeed intricately placed in our consciousness from the beginning? But now, it is not necessarily a popular way to believe? Or is not considered intelligent enough?

"These studies do not in any way negate the validity of religious experience or God," the God module's discoverers took care to note, plainly anticipating a reception of fire and brimstone from certain quarters. "They merely provide an explanation in terms of brain regions that may be involved."

Is it possible that those who are dominate in the left brain may not quite access this module? Is there a scientific reason why some may actually be blocked from this phenomena? Or is it conditioned?


One who is strictly left brain would have a more difficult time believing in something as abstract as God, for there is no empirical evidence. So then we need to rely on the right side of our brain to “reason” on other possibilities, or evidence. Unless there is documentation or formulas, they have a hard time! So to be willing to connect to God one must work the right side of the brain to bridge both.


It is like a muscle that needs to be worked. Often one needs to do "right brain" creative work to bridge (corpus callosum) the brain so both sides can be used. This then broadens the scope of one’s beliefs, or at least has the potential to.

To achieve a higher EQ (emotional intelligence) one needs to work the right brain to achieve higher intelligence and this is done through expanding our creative side. Either; one that is totally dormant because of reliance on just the left brain, or one that is seldom used.

It is the part of the brain where EQ can be measured (so to speak). It is where "knowing" and sensitivity comes from. "Knowing" when something doesn't fit, yet may not be able to produce the evidence. It is this “knowing” that confirms the existence of God or anything else that is more abstract.

A truly intelligent person uses both sides of their brain. A left brained person relies on formulas and information that they can memorize, while the person, who uses both sides, does the inventing!


Society has been taught through academia to use just the left side of the brain. This would encourage the absence of God as He must be visited through our creative right brain. Man places a great importance on academia which can be good, except they have created in a sense, a monster in that; it is their way or the highway, in thinking. Which produces an automaton society?

Most atheists are left brained only. Which explains why they can't see a pattern in actions and events. This is a skill from the right brain which, if missing, causes them to contradict themselves and not even notice it. – From: Sketchy

Since so many feel the need to prove the “believers” wrong, I find that this in itself is revealing. Is it that religion is so unacceptable (which I tend to agree with) that the atheist must confront the whole God issue?

Is it that unfortunately religion has made such a mess of the belief and teaching of a God that they are to be held reprehensible for their actions and teachings? I think so! Because God is taught through their eyes. The Bible was written through their eyes, hence, all the mistakes.

So the very thing an atheist measures God by, is paradoxically the very thing they disavow – the Bible.

Has it been made so intolerable for a person to delve into the creative right side of the brain to access a NEW God; one that is not of our Biblical and religious understanding?

If this comes off in any way as an attack, it is not meant to. I see and hear so much parroting on these forums without as much individual reasoning. The predicted comment being: “Prove God exists!” Religion has its guru’s just as the atheists have theirs, and both can parrot the individual.

i am atheist, and i was once a fundamentalist christian before i started thinking for myself. i am extremely right brained. religion itself is perverted and manipulated from its true origins. Romans 13 is a perfect example of some of the crap that was put into the bible to control people more easily;

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.

reply to post by aeroslag


Ya, and who wrote Romans? Was it the conman Paul? Or at least by his secretary?

You still confirmed part of my post: atheism is, or can be, motivated by a hatred of religion and or their interpretation of the Bible.

So one more reprehensible check-mark for religion?

Thank you.

Originally posted by MatrixProphet
reply to post by aeroslag

 

Ya, and who wrote Romans? Was it the conman Paul? Or at least by his secretary?

You still confirmed part of my post: atheism is, or can be, motivated by a hatred of religion and or their interpretation of the Bible.

So one more reprehensible check-mark for religion?

Thank you.

You can say I have a hatred for religion, yes that's correct. The reason being is because it dumbs people down and has them accept anything because "it's Gods will". I have nothing against people of religion itself, because they are usually good people, just a bit confused/manipulated. People who are Religious also claim the bible is the exact word of God, and saying otherwise makes you a hypocrite.

I am an atheist to every religion. I am also a humanitarian. I'm not Leftist, or a Conservative. Politics are a joke. Religion is a scam.

The "God Spot" you are talking about, MatrixProphet, is the pineal gland right in the center of the brain. It releases a neruo-chemical called 'Melatonin', which can also be found in (note this scientifically proven and I'm not one to push drugs or advertise them) 'magic mushrooms.

It is also is believed to be the Third Eye or 'Soul Seat'.

reply to post by aeroslag

You can say I have a hatred for religion, yes that's correct. The reason being is because it dumbs people down and has them accept anything because "it's Gods will". I have nothing against people of religion itself, because they are usually good people, just a bit confused/manipulated. People who are Religious also claim the bible is the exact word of God, and saying otherwise makes you a hypocrite.

Yes, I agree with you. But I can say the same of academia. It can also dumb down people.

It used to be the case where schools understood the need for the arts. Since the arts have been taken out of so many schools or at least limited, the scores of pupils have dropped.

Studied have shown that the practicing the arts can actually raise a persons grades.

God needs to be experienced in the same way. If we throw him out because of prejudice or we are "conditioned" to, then who is doing the dumbing down?

First, I t hink you did a really fine job of framing your thread, and supporting links. That's practically a definition of an interesting thread, at least for me.

I wonder....... are you suggesting that most athiests are right-handed? I wouldn't have thought so. I would've thought that lefties would've been more in that zone, especially those like myself that are pretty much ambidextrious.

I'm an artist. I took a degree in Chemistry, with a minor in Math and Physics.

I have to ponder this a bit. I guess I've never perceived a correlation nor pattern between brain hemisphere/handedness and spirituality.

For the record, I'm not an athiest. I'm an agnostic, with latent Christian tendancies.

reply to post by MatrixProphet

Yes i agree with you there, straight academics is also not the right answer. Humans need a balance between both hemispheres of the brain. The right is just as important as the left. I would'nt necessarily say "God" needs to be put into the picture, because we could all just be one consciousness experiencing itself subjectivlely (as Bill Hicks once said) there is no such thing as death, life is just a dream and we are the imaginations of ourselves. All matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration..

bill hicks quote
www.youtube.com...

check out the dual slit experiment. matter has consciousness..
www.youtube.com...

perhaps philosphy should be put into schools more prominently, rather than just "God" in general. My reasons being because we now very little about the universe we live in and the true nature of reality (which is being suppressed from the masses by the ruling elite). We need a better understanding of physics and quantum mechanics before we come to any conclusions.

[edit on 17-5-2009 by aeroslag]

For the above poster, I was originally left handed, but instructed to only use my right hand, not sure why since it was so long ago, but it left me ambidextrous, and i'm cool with that.

S and F, I want to read everyones replies.

There are a few quick online tests to see what side of the brain you primarily use.

reply to post by The Killah29

I am an atheist to every religion. I am also a humanitarian. I'm not Leftist, or a Conservative. Politics are a joke. Religion is a scam.

Also the religion of atheism? Or are you not an evangelical atheist? I am not being critical as I don't believe in labels being attached to myself either.

The "God Spot" you are talking about, MatrixProphet, is the pineal gland right in the center of the brain. It releases a neruo-chemical called 'Melatonin', which can also be found in (note this scientifically proven and I'm not one to push drugs or advertise them) 'magic mushrooms.

It is also is believed to be the Third Eye or 'Soul Seat'.

Yes, and isn't it a wonderful natural drug if used wisely? This of course would make sense if we are talking about a connection to a higher consciousness. It would need to exceed our natural thinking abilities. Perhaps a natural chemical to raise our consciousness levels.

reply to post by MatrixProphet

Yah, I'm even an atheist to the Atheist church. (wow, a paradox)
the only things I believe in besides my above post is that everyone is psychic and can unlock it, and the conspiracy theories at this awsome site.

reply to post by argentus

First, I t hink you did a really fine job of framing your thread, and supporting links. That's practically a definition of an interesting thread, at least for me.

Why, thank you!

I wonder....... are you suggesting that most athiests are right-handed? I wouldn't have thought so. I would've thought that lefties would've been more in that zone, especially those like myself that are pretty much ambidextrious.

I don't have a clue except this was said by Unityemissions on another thread: Left handers, and those who are gifted mathematically, have on average an 11% increase in their corpus callosum then the average person.

I'm an artist. I took a degree in Chemistry, with a minor in Math and Physics.

It sounds like you use both sides.

I have to ponder this a bit. I guess I've never perceived a correlation nor pattern between brain hemisphere/handedness and spirituality.

For the record, I'm not an athiest. I'm an agnostic, with latent Christian tendancies.

I have really studied this and interviewed individuals so I have first hand experience. I see all sides to unorthodox beliefs and the traditional. Traditional is safer and more familiar, whereas spirituality is more into the unknown.

I know agnostics tend to be brighter than atheists and the reason is; they are more apt to accept answers that are not so black and white. I don't mean to generalize but atheists in my experience are more narrow or perhaps have more trepidations about spirituality than an agnostic. It is not a provable thing and they can be put off by something so abstract. Threatening? Possibly.

I am by no means saying that atheists are not bright. I just feel that they work out of more "filters" than someone who is more open minded.

reply to post by aeroslag

perhaps philosphy should be put into schools more prominently, rather than just "God" in general. My reasons being because we now very little about the universe we live in and the true nature of reality (which is being suppressed from the masses by the ruling elite). We need a better understanding of physics and quantum mechanics before we come to any conclusions

Ah, very good. I totally agree. Making anything mandatory with the exception of the arts which should be, is usually an automaton in the making!

Only 30% of the universe is visible! 70% is not! Now where do you think this great scientist in the sky is going to reside? We do know so little. To assume God does not exist is plain - ________(you fill in the blank, hehehe)!

reply to post by Republican08

S and F, I want to read everyones replies.

Oh thank you!!!

I do too!

reply to post by The Killah29

Yah, I'm even an atheist to the Atheist church. (wow, a paradox)
the only things I believe in besides my above post is that everyone is psychic and can unlock it, and the conspiracy theories at this awsome site.

It is fun dissecting our beliefs and thoughts.

Glad to hear that you are not an evangelical atheist soldier!

I'm an atheist and I'm also more right-brained than left-brained.

reply to post by ravenshadow13

I'm an atheist and I'm also more right-brained than left-brained.

Thank you for telling me. So your creative side is the more dominant side?

Do you ever feel a creative energy?

Well as I understand it it's really not a matter of what one believes, but rather how does one come to those beliefs.

I'm basing this on the limited discussions lately on left vs right brain. As I see it, it's really a difference in what you use to fill the left brain. The "thinker" it seems will be using their right brain to fill the left brain. Meaning, they have more of an understanding of things when it comes from the right brain. The opposite of that is when people allow the left brain to be filled by others, and they dismiss their right brain understandings. In which case these people are not understanding, but rather they are just accepting what comes externally.

So if the left brain is where logic, and the ability to communicate and so forth comes from, then it's really just a matter of what those things are based on.

I find most Christians and atheists to be exactly alike. Some may think they are completely opposite, but I see 2 sides of the same coin. They have both accepted what others say over understanding provided by the right brain. The only real difference between them is they have just accepted 2 different things.

Those who operate on feeding the left brain externally generally look for authority and credibility. That is how they decided fact from fiction. If someone with a bunch of degrees/certificates says something, they will accept that as fact. And then Christians of course do the same exact thing with the bible/church.

As such, atheism vs religion is really more of a symptom of a deeper problem rather than the problem itself. Getting people to change which authority they accept really isn't going to change much overall. They will still be blind and without understanding.

This problem is something I encountered when working on AI. As with the AI I have to come up with a logical way of concerning what is true or not. Which like most things in AI had me questioning our own ways of doing this.

So here is the question - how do we know what is true and what is false? Oddly enough, in the answer to this question you will find reasons for many things, including life, death and the reason for so many people.

What is the logic behind finding real truth?

Religion began when the first civilization began. The rulers/kings/PTB of those days took it very seriously, burying themselves with so much junk to help them through to the otherside for what reason other than their own belief in deity.

Religion today has been abused and used for control, no doubt there. But it does not disprove its validity.

This part of the brain is there for a reason and to ignore or shut it off is such a waste. There is so much more waiting to be unlocked.

Actually if the theory of evolution is to be believed then that would suggest nature deems it neccessary for us to have the brain we have including all of its fantasy productions. Remember you have to use it or you will lose it.

reply to post by MatrixProphet


Ignoring all the stuff about left brain = narrowness for a moment, I'll just answer the question of the title.

Are atheists mostly left brained?

Yes.

Why?

Because most people are "left brained" (I hate that psudo-scientific term so), therefore most people of any (a)theistic stance will be left brained.