“As long as our brains are arranged the way they are, as long as our minds are capable of sensing this deeper reality, spirituality will continue to shape the human experience, and God, however we define that majestic, mysterious concept, will not go away.” (pp.172)
Gods surely exist—that is what I thought after reading this work. Although I have no particular religion such as Christianity, Buddhism, Shinto, etc., I would like to admit such exists with my pleasure. Nwbrg claims “mystical experience is biologically, observably, and scientifically real” (pp.7) because they actually influence our biological functions, not only our thoughts. Thus, gods exist not only in the sense of metaphysics issues but also of physics.
In general, we tend to regard them as just metaphysical matters. I also thought metaphysical existences are just concepts from our high-level cognitive process and they did not affect our physical and concrete reality because they are described as imaginable, conceptual and abstract stuffs.
Supernatural existences, however, are actually relevant to more primitive organs of our brains rather than our high-level cognitive process such as our frontal lobes. Nwbrg points out that our limbic system is the organs to create such supernatural experiences (pp.42).
According to Nwbrg, the limbic system involves hypothalamus, the amygdale, and the hippocampus (pp.43). In these primitive organs, hypothalamus is especially important and functions as the master controller of the autonomic nervous system (pp.43). In other words, our supernatural experiences are connected deeply with such the master controller of autonomic nervous system and supernatural existences based on our fundamental functions.
This notion was surprising me because I thought gods were related to our high-processed cognitive area, not our primitive and emotional areas. And yet, supernatural experiences really influence our lives through the emotions and the physical reaction, hence we can believe them strongly.
Then, why do we create gods through such primitive organs? The simple answer is that supernatural existences are just beneficial for our lives. In ancient ages, nature was terribly complex, uncertain and dangerous for human beings to survive. To simplify and to get coherence, people created gods through their supernatural existences (p137).
In fact, a data indicates religious beliefs and practices are good for our mental and emotional conditions (p.130). Since we have such organs to experience supernatural things and religious beliefs rooted on the experiences are practically beneficial, god won’t go away.
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