Scientists Deliver 'God' Via A Helmet

prostoalex writes "Scientific American is reporting on scientific work done to map the euphoric religious feelings within the brain. As a result, it's now quite possible to experience 'proximity to God' via a special helmet: 'In a series of studies conducted over the past several decades, Persinger and his team have trained their device on the temporal lobes of hundreds of people. In doing so, the researchers induced in most of them the experience of a sensed presence — a feeling that someone (or a spirit) is in the room when no one, in fact, is — or of a profound state of cosmic bliss that reveals a universal truth. During the three-minute bursts of stimulation, the affected subjects translated this perception of the divine into their own cultural and religious language — terming it God, Buddha, a benevolent presence or the wonder of the universe.""

This is the closest to God you can ever get

[Anonymous Coward]

First post.

Obligatory

[SnoopJeDi]

I, for one, welcome our new brain-controlling divine overlords.

Angry religious leaders @ 9.

Proof!

[Anonymous Coward]

This is proof that Science is a Tool of the Devil!

Oh, Jebus, curse these rotten, immoral Satanic Scientists to the ever-lasting hell they deserve!

Re:Surely this includes the hallucinations

[EmbeddedJanitor]

like seeing visions of God, Moses, Virgin Mary etc? I think I'd rather go for the acid.

Three words:

[Dachannien]

I grok helmet.

Magic helmet

[MillionthMonkey]

Bugs Bunny: [singing] Oh, mighty warrior of great fighting stock! Might I inquire to ask-Eh, [eats a carrot] what's up, Doc?
Elmer Fudd: [singing] I am going to kill the Wabbit!
Bugs Bunny: [singing] Oh, mighty hunter, twil be quite a task. How will you do it? Might I inquire to ask?
Elmer Fudd: [singing] I will do it with my spear and magic helmet!
Bugs Bunny: [singing] Your spear and magic helmet?
Elmer Fudd: [singing] Spear and magic helmet!
Bugs Bunny: [singing] Magic helmet?
Elmer Fudd: [singing] Magic helmet!
Bugs Bunny: Magic helmet.

I guess they came to the wrong conclusion...

[Keyper7]

...after seeing the volunteer scream "Oh, GOD! Oh, GOD!" while being stimulated.

I think they discovered a G-something, but not exactly God.

Re:Slashdot.. not just for tech..

[smidget2k4]

Is it bad that I read that and went "Holy crap! New nuance in the Linux task scheduler?" Then i went back to the main page to check, and found you were only joke.

Not funny.

No Euphoria Here...

[dtjohnson]

We're Catholics here. For us, God is more like the feeling of working for a really, really great supervisor rather than the euphoric high with the helmet thing. For that, I need about 48 oz of cold beer.

Re:Surely this includes the hallucinations

[EmbeddedJanitor]

like I said... I think I'll just stick with the acid!

Re:Surely this includes the hallucinations

[Propaganda13]

Since Jesus apparently had other siblings, why do people still refer to his mother as virgin?

Since Joe Jackson wore shoes, why do people still refer to him as Shoeless Joe Jackson? /sarcasm

I'd like to see this work from a distance

[Heir Of The Mess]

Imagine if you could get a machine that could give a whole room full of people the feeling of god at the press of a button. Has amazing potential for abuse. What if it fit in your pocket and worked within a proximity - then everyone around you would feel your presence! hmmm, I wonder if my wife would then show me respect? Probably not :-(

I wonder how it would apply to sales, getting a job, meeting the oppsite sex, a president negotiating with another one. Certainly would add value to face time.

Re:Surely this includes the hallucinations

[ozmanjusri]

I think I'd rather go for the acid.

Hey, Christianity is the belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie, who was his own father, can make you live forever if you eat his flesh. [pizdaus.com]

What's not to like?

Newbligatory

[Twisted64]

I am somewhat concerned that they may be in charge of Gundam.
And if not, why not?

Re:Surely this includes the hallucinations

[fractoid]

"In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary... come again?!" - Brick Top

Re:Interesting but metaphysically inconclusive

[aichpvee]

Do you really think belief in fairy big beard or whatever makes people less likely to kill each other? Seems to me that it makes them more likely to band together with the people who believe the same bullshit as they do and kill those who don't. It's an incremental step of tribalism. Just look at all the "christian" car dealerships and computer stores and every other fucking thing.

Big deal

[schnitzi]

Big deal. The sybian has been around for years, and gives you the same effect.

Non-religious people are clinically disordered

[tjstork]

In his book, Phantoms in the Brain, neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran mentions this device in his discussion of psychological disorders. IIRC, he compares the sensation to those symptoms that are exhibited by individuals with a messiah complex.


I don't think the problem is that those people with these religious sensations, it is with the people that don't. Clearly, non-religious people are depressing the world, describing something as beautiful and intense as a walk in the park and reducing it to something mundane. Thanks to the "god helmet", we can finally hunt down these mutants that are wrecking society and adjust their thinking.

Re:Surely this includes the hallucinations

[MORB]

There are people who haven't read the bible, and are not inclined to, you know.

There is no need to read the bible to make fun of a religion worshipping a naked guy affixed to a torture device and hypocrit enough to preach "tolerance" while being against gays, people who like to fuck for fun and people who don't share the same beliefs.

Re:This is the closest to God you can ever get

[SnapShot]

Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Don't mod the parent "off topic". It's possible that God is posting AC. Check the bottom of of the thread to see if the last post is AC as well.

Monotheism due to Fleeing Isrealites

[EmbeddedJanitor]

When the Isrealites fled from Egypt, they couldn't carry all these gods, expecially all the statues carved out of stone - which weighed many tons and hardly promoted effective fleeing. So they had a quick vote and declared: one god and not a heavy one carved out of rock either.

Slashdot: the finest source of religeous facts.