I've been researching that question quite intensively for the past month or more, and I will be putting some of the results of my research into soon-to-be made videos (I've written parts of the scripts of these already). I thought that Paul would be the focus of my very next video, but now I think that the next video will be about a hypothesized neurological relationship between meditation and epilepsy. This topic will come into play in discussing Paul because (continued)
(continued) ...of the unreliability of ACTS as a historical document (according to the judgment of scholars I think to be among the best). The accounts of Paul's conversion experience that describe it as a spontaneous event all come from ACTS. If I focus instead upon the letters of Paul that are considered to be genuine (not all of those in the NT are considered genuine by the majority of critical scholars) the material is still supportive of the epilepsy diagnosis, but (cont'd)
(cont'd) the question arises as to whether Paul is using mystical techniques---especially with regard to his ascension to the third heaven---rather than having spontaneous experiences (these two possibilities not being mutually exclusive). Thus the question of the relation of experiences occurring spontaneously, vs. experiences self-induced by techniques arises. Addressing this first also has the advantage of making sure that I give my audience a better neurological (cont'd)
That Sapolsky lecture in your link was excellent. Thanks. It is very much in the spirit of what I intend to do with my channel.
I respect Sapolsky a lot. I've listened to his lecture series for The Teaching Company---"Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality---which has inspired a video I intend to make in the future.
These testimonies sound a lot like LSD and other psychedelic testimonies.
They both experience god, being outside of one's self, having received special knowledge, spirituality, loss of the fear of death, and a desire to return for further learning.
Yes, I think that psychedelics/entheogens can create analogous brain functioning to what happens in ecstatic epilepsy. In my next video (or the one after that) I'll talk about a very unusual experience that occurs via epilepsy, yoga practice, and psychotropic plant use, which I think shows analogous brain functioning across all three. I see the roots of religion as brain-based, not based in anything supernatural. It is unfortunate that it has been made (cont'd)
...so difficult to legally study the effects of psychedelic mysticism with our new brain-imaging technologies. This being the case, I think it's important to study the legal alternative: ecstatic epilepsy. Mystical experiences can be hard to induce at will without psychedelics, but epileptic seizures are an exception: there are many techniques by which some epileptics deliberately induce their seizures, and I'll soon be revealing an original hypothesis relating to that.
If you are walking in the forest, and experience a large angry-looking bear running toward you, it is, in a sense, a "real" experience even if you are hallucinating: i.e. you are "really" having an experience. That is one sense of the word "real". There is a different sense of the word "reality" concerned with whether you are actually about to get mauled by a bear: i.e. does your experience map onto the physical world outside of your brain in a significant way.
@markdzima I know a lot about this subject and Ramachandran is one of my favorite authors. I would be happy to help you with research for future videos. I assume you have read Phantoms In The Brain? There is a video series done by Rama you can see here on youtube. Punch it into the search engine here.
I'm familiar with the work of Ramachandran. I have a couple of hypotheses relating to the cortical homunculus (a favorite topic of his). Research would involve seeking out and skimming through the medical literature gathering descriptions of certain symptoms, and , if we're lucky, to find someone who has made a connection to the homunculus. I can describe more via pm if that might be something you'd be interested in. If not, I might be able to think of something else.
@markdzima I'm not entirely sure how you think of the homunculus, other than as a rough idea of a sensory map? Sure, though, shoot me some ideas. I'm happy to converse with intelligent people who are curious about these subjects. I rarely get a chance to do that in the real world.
It is amazing people do not realize the BRAIN is the organ we created the bizarre metamagical beliefs of GOD with, accepting them as REALITY when a malfunction is present.
There is NO DIFFERENCE between the Bizarre Beliefs of the deeply religious & the schizophrenic. It is imperative the FaithPSychosis disorder is exposed before humanity goes extinct.
ReligiousPsychosis, specially ChristPSychosis, is a devastating neurological disorder that can be exposed by operating the hippocampus.
My Hypothesis is the experience would be relative to the the victim of the psychosis for example if someone was a Wiccan, they would see an ancient goddess and if someone was a Mormon they would see Joseph Smith. People will look to what they see as more important I could say if I experience that I would probably see my loved ones (even if they are alive).
On rare occasion, another factor, such as setting, might shape the experience. In the case of the woman cited in this video as having imagined a voice that came "from God", she was an (unspecified-type) artist who was in a church, at the end of a performance there. A self-described "agnostic", she was terrified by the experience and "feared for her mental health."
But one thing is to know what may bring about such conditions - but how does one confront people who are convinced of authenticity of their spiritual experiences to make them aware of the possibility of them having a mental condition?
@tristbjorn Thanks! I don't have any experience with attempting that, but it is possible that even if you succeeded in convincing someone they had a mental condition, and even if medication stopped the experiences, they still might cling to the authenticity of their spiritual experiences. Those experiences may have been very cherished experiences, the peak experiences of their life, holding great meaning to the person who had the experiences.
Good video! This is quite fascinating topic. I think these short and dense videos are a good format, they allow one to contemplate the information a while before more comes along. I have myself wondered if all religions originated with one man hallucinating something and those gullible enough starting to praise him as a prophet. In the olden days, Finnish shamans ate poisonous Amanita-mushrooms and gained access to the "spirit realm" after which they could tell people what the spirtits ordered.
I think that the existence of entheogens, psychoactive plants which--when ingested--can reportedly bring about "encounters" with deities, are another good reason to relate religious experiences to neurological processes.
Comment removed
nasty4004 2 months ago
Do you believe Paul's experience was do to epilepsy?
KasparHauser6 8 months ago
@KasparHauser6
I've been researching that question quite intensively for the past month or more, and I will be putting some of the results of my research into soon-to-be made videos (I've written parts of the scripts of these already). I thought that Paul would be the focus of my very next video, but now I think that the next video will be about a hypothesized neurological relationship between meditation and epilepsy. This topic will come into play in discussing Paul because (continued)
markdzima 8 months ago
@markdzima
(continued) ...of the unreliability of ACTS as a historical document (according to the judgment of scholars I think to be among the best). The accounts of Paul's conversion experience that describe it as a spontaneous event all come from ACTS. If I focus instead upon the letters of Paul that are considered to be genuine (not all of those in the NT are considered genuine by the majority of critical scholars) the material is still supportive of the epilepsy diagnosis, but (cont'd)
markdzima 8 months ago
@markdzima
(cont'd) the question arises as to whether Paul is using mystical techniques---especially with regard to his ascension to the third heaven---rather than having spontaneous experiences (these two possibilities not being mutually exclusive). Thus the question of the relation of experiences occurring spontaneously, vs. experiences self-induced by techniques arises. Addressing this first also has the advantage of making sure that I give my audience a better neurological (cont'd)
markdzima 8 months ago
@markdzima
(cont'd) foundation for thinking about historical accounts of such experiences from a non-supernatural perspective.
markdzima 8 months ago
I've added a link to this video in the underbar of my video, here:
watch?v=zahFKGVpQGg
You might be interested in this:
Professor Sapolsky Explains the Origin of Religion Part 1/2
watch?v=LNSe4Ff57n4
zarkoff45 9 months ago
@zarkoff45
That Sapolsky lecture in your link was excellent. Thanks. It is very much in the spirit of what I intend to do with my channel.
I respect Sapolsky a lot. I've listened to his lecture series for The Teaching Company---"Biology and Human Behavior: The Neurological Origins of Individuality---which has inspired a video I intend to make in the future.
markdzima 9 months ago
These testimonies sound a lot like LSD and other psychedelic testimonies.
They both experience god, being outside of one's self, having received special knowledge, spirituality, loss of the fear of death, and a desire to return for further learning.
Pretty interesting stuff
Icemario87 10 months ago
@Icemario87
Yes, I think that psychedelics/entheogens can create analogous brain functioning to what happens in ecstatic epilepsy. In my next video (or the one after that) I'll talk about a very unusual experience that occurs via epilepsy, yoga practice, and psychotropic plant use, which I think shows analogous brain functioning across all three. I see the roots of religion as brain-based, not based in anything supernatural. It is unfortunate that it has been made (cont'd)
markdzima 10 months ago
@Icemario87 (cont'd)
...so difficult to legally study the effects of psychedelic mysticism with our new brain-imaging technologies. This being the case, I think it's important to study the legal alternative: ecstatic epilepsy. Mystical experiences can be hard to induce at will without psychedelics, but epileptic seizures are an exception: there are many techniques by which some epileptics deliberately induce their seizures, and I'll soon be revealing an original hypothesis relating to that.
markdzima 10 months ago
Very much looking forward to the continuation of this series.
hairball38 10 months ago
@hairball38
I expect to be uploading again very soon. The issues that have preoccupied me throughout this month have been resolved.
~
My response to your recent pm will be delayed a little: I need to get some sleep now before heading back to work.
markdzima 10 months ago
Gods you see when you take drugs or have ecstatic epilepsy are just as real as the everyday consciousness, or are they?
If you block the (1)enthoegen or (2)normal reactions in your brain the result is 1) no more 'gods'
2) No more everyday reality
I think that is good to keep in mind for the sake of objectivity.
LostRituals 11 months ago
@LostRituals
If you are walking in the forest, and experience a large angry-looking bear running toward you, it is, in a sense, a "real" experience even if you are hallucinating: i.e. you are "really" having an experience. That is one sense of the word "real". There is a different sense of the word "reality" concerned with whether you are actually about to get mauled by a bear: i.e. does your experience map onto the physical world outside of your brain in a significant way.
markdzima 11 months ago 2
At one point in history (~2 years ago) I had a video series dedicated to this very topic. I look formward to seeing more about this. ::subscribed::
bamboo4tameshigiri 11 months ago
@bamboo4tameshigiri
You took the series down? I'm disappointed!
I subbed back and am looking forward to your comments.
markdzima 11 months ago
@markdzima I know a lot about this subject and Ramachandran is one of my favorite authors. I would be happy to help you with research for future videos. I assume you have read Phantoms In The Brain? There is a video series done by Rama you can see here on youtube. Punch it into the search engine here.
bamboo4tameshigiri 11 months ago
@bamboo4tameshigiri
I'm familiar with the work of Ramachandran. I have a couple of hypotheses relating to the cortical homunculus (a favorite topic of his). Research would involve seeking out and skimming through the medical literature gathering descriptions of certain symptoms, and , if we're lucky, to find someone who has made a connection to the homunculus. I can describe more via pm if that might be something you'd be interested in. If not, I might be able to think of something else.
markdzima 11 months ago
@markdzima I'm not entirely sure how you think of the homunculus, other than as a rough idea of a sensory map? Sure, though, shoot me some ideas. I'm happy to converse with intelligent people who are curious about these subjects. I rarely get a chance to do that in the real world.
bamboo4tameshigiri 11 months ago
It is amazing people do not realize the BRAIN is the organ we created the bizarre metamagical beliefs of GOD with, accepting them as REALITY when a malfunction is present.
There is NO DIFFERENCE between the Bizarre Beliefs of the deeply religious & the schizophrenic. It is imperative the FaithPSychosis disorder is exposed before humanity goes extinct.
ReligiousPsychosis, specially ChristPSychosis, is a devastating neurological disorder that can be exposed by operating the hippocampus.
calpurnpiso 11 months ago 2
This guy sounds like he's on heavy drugs AND has had a lobotomy.
Wolfau5 11 months ago
My Hypothesis is the experience would be relative to the the victim of the psychosis for example if someone was a Wiccan, they would see an ancient goddess and if someone was a Mormon they would see Joseph Smith. People will look to what they see as more important I could say if I experience that I would probably see my loved ones (even if they are alive).
ravenheart93 11 months ago
@ravenheart93 I agree with your hypothesis.
On rare occasion, another factor, such as setting, might shape the experience. In the case of the woman cited in this video as having imagined a voice that came "from God", she was an (unspecified-type) artist who was in a church, at the end of a performance there. A self-described "agnostic", she was terrified by the experience and "feared for her mental health."
markdzima 11 months ago
Thanks for a great upload.
But one thing is to know what may bring about such conditions - but how does one confront people who are convinced of authenticity of their spiritual experiences to make them aware of the possibility of them having a mental condition?
tristbjorn 11 months ago
@tristbjorn Thanks! I don't have any experience with attempting that, but it is possible that even if you succeeded in convincing someone they had a mental condition, and even if medication stopped the experiences, they still might cling to the authenticity of their spiritual experiences. Those experiences may have been very cherished experiences, the peak experiences of their life, holding great meaning to the person who had the experiences.
markdzima 11 months ago
Good video! This is quite fascinating topic. I think these short and dense videos are a good format, they allow one to contemplate the information a while before more comes along. I have myself wondered if all religions originated with one man hallucinating something and those gullible enough starting to praise him as a prophet. In the olden days, Finnish shamans ate poisonous Amanita-mushrooms and gained access to the "spirit realm" after which they could tell people what the spirtits ordered.
Vitoldian 11 months ago
@Vitoldian
Thank you.
I think that the existence of entheogens, psychoactive plants which--when ingested--can reportedly bring about "encounters" with deities, are another good reason to relate religious experiences to neurological processes.
markdzima 11 months ago
These are some interesting cases indeed. I look forward to delving deeper into this with your future videos.
GreenEggsAndHamster 11 months ago
@GreenEggsAndHamster
Thank you! I'm glad you found it interesting.
markdzima 11 months ago