Study suggests 'born-again' believers have smaller brains

Originally posted by Ferris.Bueller.II

So why would born-again Protestants, Catholics and those with no religious affiliation have a smaller hippocampus?

No religious affiliation = atheist ?

Evolution is a religion.

Oh crap, here it comes....

Originally posted by dbates
Doesn't seem to bother me. I'm still the smartest developer we have at work. I don't see how this would be relevant unless they measured the brain before and after they were "born again".

Just imagine how much smarterer you would be if you didn't love Jesus.

I lost 100 IQ points when I was born again.

I can barely tie my shoes anymore.

Prolly why the first century Christians wore sandals all the time.

Originally posted by DrEugeneFixer

Originally posted by eNaR
..."Study suggests 'born-again' believers have smaller brains"...


....true !

Actually False, the article does not say that. Which you would know if you had read it. It would be nice to be able to have a conversation about an actual article or news item once in a while, instead of people's knee jerk response to a thread title.

That kind of talk in a thread on ATS will NOT get you any stars mister.

Better think of a way to ridicule some Christians if you want some pretty blue stars.

Originally posted by DrEugeneFixer

Originally posted by eNaR
..."Study suggests 'born-again' believers have smaller brains"...


....true !

Actually False, the article does not say that. Which you would know if you had read it. It would be nice to be able to have a conversation about an actual article or news item once in a while, instead of people's knee jerk response to a thread title.

Actually the title to the thread is copy and paste
from the article you read. might want to read it again..

There actually seems to be a correlation between being religious and being a little 'slow' as well as being intolerant of other people's views, very resistant to change or new ideas, and especially not having the ability to think freely and for themselves. I've noticed this over the 36 years I've been around. It's observable. It's as if they are unable to think for themselves and formulate theories and opinions. They simply draw from what others tell them (preachers) or open up a bible to flip to the page they need for their 'answer'.

This is silly propaganda. Any real christian wouldn't spend time on this. Trying to weed out the Jesus ragers lol

Originally posted by madnessinmysoul
reply to post by AwakeinNM

 

No, you really can't. Of course, considering that most people on this website seem don't seem to actually know how a scientific publication works, I'm not surprised by this.

And a good poll, with an actually well done sample, will not get the results you necessarily want...unless those results are the real ones.

You mean like double-blind studies that new pharmaceuticals endure for FDA approval, only to get discontinued after said pharmaceutical kills a whole bunch of people once it's on the market??

And polls almost never have samples that are representative of the population as a whole. You ever see the stats on these political polls they trot out during elections? They have samples of like 800 people that they polled by phone. Seriously, dude.

Many on here are saying that being "born again" means you just blindly accept what you are told. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First it is not the religion that give some the label of being born again, it is their personal relationship with Christ as known only by experience. Until something so unique happens to you, you will not understand it. That being said, we base our opinions, beliefs, and our faith on our own experience. Your relationship with Christ may be similar to mine, however, the way we got there may be very different.

God says we must seek wisdom and always question whom is teaching us. If we do not question, how will we ever understand why we believe as we do and be able to relay that reason to another. Otherwise people are not going to bother listening. You will end up saying " I believe the way I do, because it is right and I just do. " How ridiculous
does that sound. You must know why you believe in whatever you believe in.

I would also like to add, everyone must seek out truth for themselves, whatever your truth may be.

Thanks,
Pax

Originally posted by spacemanjupiter
There actually seems to be a correlation between being religious and being a little 'slow' as well as being intolerant of other people's views, very resistant to change or new ideas, and especially not having the ability to think freely and for themselves. I've noticed this over the 36 years I've been around. It's observable. It's as if they are unable to think for themselves and formulate theories and opinions. They simply draw from what others tell them (preachers) or open up a bible to flip to the page they need for their 'answer'.

I have just one question for you, are you a blind man? People see what they want to see in another's beliefs. Based on the ludicrous statements you have made you either have no eyes or you have chosen that path.

The rest is too ridiculous to even bother replying to.

reply to post by mkkkay


Well maybe you should read instead of just copy and paste. The article itself makes no such claim about the size of the brain, only about the size of the hippocampus, which is only a small part of the brain.

This is exactly what I am talking about. If you can't be bothered to read the articles, please don't post them. You should be ashamed of yourself.

The motto of this site is "Deny Ignorance" not "copy paste"

reply to post by mkkkay


In addition, I would like to point out that this entire thread is off topic... there is no conspiracy content, which is a requirement for starting a thread on this board. Maybe you'd like to have a moderator delete it, or move it to a more appropriate forum.

Please stop trolling.

Originally posted by DrEugeneFixer
reply to post by mkkkay

 

Well maybe you should read instead of just copy and paste. The article itself makes no such claim about the size of the brain, only about the size of the hippocampus, which is only a small part of the brain.

This is exactly what I am talking about. If you can't be bothered to read the articles, please don't post them. You should be ashamed of yourself.

The motto of this site is "Deny Ignorance" not "copy paste"

Relax dude! i did read the article, i am not going to change the title just to suit your fancy.
if it makes you feel better, i did not believe the article, i my self think it's a kind of propoganda.
Maybe you should read my words also, and not just the article i posted.
thats the second time i have to send you back to the op. hope this is the last.

P.S you should stay away from threads you don't agree with, if it gets you frustrated and mad.

So this is not a conspiracy. look dude again having to send you to shool is getting old

"Conspiracy theory" was originally a neutral descriptor for any claim of civil, criminal, or political conspiracy. However, it has become largely pejorative and used almost exclusively to refer to any fringe theory which explains a historical or current event as the result of a secret plot by conspirators of almost superhuman power and cunning.

Conspiracy theories are viewed with skepticism by many because they are rarely supported by any conclusive evidence and contrast with institutional analysis. The former speculates on the motives and actions of secretive coalitions of individuals while the latter studies people's collective behavior in publicly known institutions, as recorded in scholarly material and mainstream media reports, to explain historical or current events.[1] Scholars argue that conspiracy theory goes beyond the boundaries of rational criticism when it becomes nonfalsifiable. Such a theory is a closed system of ideas which explains away contradictory evidence by claiming that the conspirators themselves planted it.[1] The term “conspiracy theory” is therefore often used dismissively in an attempt to characterize a belief as outlandishly false and held by a person judged to be a crank or a group confined to the lunatic fringe.[2] Such characterization is often the subject of dispute due to its possible unfairness and inaccuracy.

en.wikipedia.org...
I hope this does it for you my new friend

reply to post by Unity_99


Really, I did not get what you what you were you were trying to say. Just static. Try again.

Egos aren't inflating their brains.

reply to post by madnessinmysoul


Here are a few:

1) I believe that the article stated that there were 268 people that were tracked. Anyone with a basic knowledge of statistics should realize that a study that includes that small of a pool offers almost no conclusions and can only possibly point to a need for further study.

2) There seems to have been very little nuance in the study when it came to division of religious groups (and for that matter, agnostics and atheists). For example, did they determine if any of the atheists that were tested (falling into the religiously unaffiliated and having a smaller hypocampus than mainline Protestants) practiced meditation, imbibed in drug use (either currently or in the past) or if the Catholics involved participated in any meditation like practices, such as repetition of the rosary, contemplation of the passion or other activities?

3) There was no indication that the study utilized participants form diverse locales. Duke University is in North Carolina where until recently (and the test subjects were in their late 50's) Catholics and atheists were persona non grata. Stress is one of the greatest causes of hypocampal atrophy.

Eric

reply to post by mkkkay


Actually, I agree that this thread doesn't belong in CiR, having no conspiracy angle at all.

It's an interesting study and a worthy thread, but probably belongs in Faith and Spirituality (or whatever they changed it to when getting rid of BTS).

Eric

reply to post by NOTurTypical


You realize that the study included religiously unaffiliated, right?

That seems to encompass atheists and agnostics in the teeny hypocampus group.

Eric

Originally posted by Evanzsayz
reply to post by mkkkay

 

I dont understand how would you become stressed because you are saved wouldnt that do the complete opposite if your a believer?

No, I don't think so at all. It seems to me that if you came into a full knowledge of the certainty of the justice of the Lord you would be a LOT more stressed out and would be doing whatever you could to help those that weren't saved get saved.

Born Again Christians believe that what is coming in the end times is not fun stuff for those that aren't whisked away or are protected. I could easily see them spending a tremendous amount of time praying for those that aren't saved, raising money for the printing of Bibles, evangelizing and so on.

I don't know any Born Again who believes that God is Love and is not also Just. And Just can be scary.


Eric

Originally posted by EricD
reply to post by NOTurTypical

 

You realize that the study included religiously unaffiliated, right?

That seems to encompass atheists and agnostics in the teeny hypocampus group.

Eric

Nope, just born-again believers are stupid retards.

Madness agrees so it's gots to be true.

Plus it's a study, and Madness says it's peer-reviewed which is just another way to say "factual".

I think that this is how they discovered this interesting piece of the puzzle:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

While attempting to localize it on extremist's in the middle east they discovered it worked on all fanatical closed minded people...