« Yes, we know. We are a bad, bad blog. | Main | The Seedy Underbelly of the Scientific Establishment »
March 04, 2004
Once Again, Science Takes Direction from 'The Simpsons'
Mario Beaureagard, a neuroscientist at the University of Montreal, is investigating some of the neurophysiological aspects of religious experience. Of course it invloves lots of fMRIs, and PET scans, and whatnot, but it also involves mescaline. Beauregard is studying the effects of the drug in the hopes of understanding what goes on in the brain when people experience Unio Mystica, a connection with God. He hopes that the spirititual feelings often reported by mescaline users will shed some light on the similar experiences of those who have not taken the drug, typically people within the organizations of chruches (nuns, clergy, etc.) when they are in their 20s.
Those of us who watch 'The Simpsons' religiously know that, sometimes, similar effects can be achieved by ingesting certain 'Guatemalan insanity peppers' and can provide cryptic insights into the nature of our personal lives. Of course, we also know that, should Beauregard's study conclude something we find unfavorable, we can always meet his claims with the challenge: "In your face, space coyote!"
"A mystical union" (The Economist)
Posted by matt at March 4, 2004 02:40 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.greenideasblog.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/77
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)