[extropy-chat] Re: John Wright Finds God

[BillK]

On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 22:41:02 -0800, Reason wrote:
> 
> And so forth - like the ten dozen people you know who are no doubt equally touched in their own ways (and operate as normal human beings until you engage them on the subject of religion) but don't happen to produce stunning works of prose. Religious delusions are much like statist delusions; they are so prevalent and such a matter of personal choice that one really has few alternatives to humoring them if one wants to participate in polite society. It's the missionaries backed up by forceful coercion you have to watch for, but beyond that, who cares to comment on the tapestries people paint on the inside of their own skulls? If you're running Dali 1.0 on the inside it's no matter to me provided you can expose a Normal Rockwell API for me to interface with.
> 

Exactly. John Wright is speaking as though his religious experience
was something unusual. It isn't. Millions of people have had similar
experiences and many also *know* the meaning of life.
More than half of all adult Americans (and UK adults also) will report
having had some kind of religious experience. Religious experience is
common to humanity worldwide, regardless of religious persuasion. Even
atheists have transcendental events in their lives. It is a
fundamental part of how the human brain is structured.

Religious experiences are as real to the person experiencing them, as
is pain and pleasure, or an emotion, or a sensation -- seeing,
hearing, feeling, smelling and tasting.
These religious experiences can even feel more real and deeper than
ordinary experiences and can often be life changing.

Abraham Maslow said that WE ALL have peak experiences. Here's how he
described them:
    * the experience is ego-transcending; it goes beyond "you"
    * you see reality clearly, vividly, profoundly
    * everything in the universe seems meaningful and interconnected
    * you feel passive, receptive and surrendered to the experience
    * you see things for what they are and not according to your own needs
    * every thing looks unique and beautiful
    * you feel acceptance and love for everything
    * time and space seem irrelevant
    * you feel wonder, awe, humility
    * you feel fortunate and graced
    * you feel a sense of free-will and responsibility for the world
    * all of your fears, anxieties, and conflicts disappear
    * you KNOW that this experience is what life is all about 

How you deal with these experiences is unique to each individual.
The objects of a religious experience depends on the culture of the
person experiencing it.
In a Muslim environment they will be related to the Koran.
In a Christian environment they will be related to Jesus and Biblical events.
In Ancient Rome they were related to the Gods and myths of the Romans
at that time.
And, so on.

All religious experiences ("supernatural experiences") are personal
and originate and end in the brain of the person experiencing them.  
No one and no group has a monopoly on these experiences or has a
religious superiority over anyone else -- each experience is unique to
that person and does not represent some external universal phenomenon.

Religious experiences are not a type of perceptual experience, i.e. a
type of experience in which something external is perceived. Religious
experiences are more akin to imaginings than they are to perception.
The object of the experience is not something that exists objectively
in the world but rather is something that exists subjectively in the
mind of the person having the experience.

Each person's God (if he considers a God at all) is in his brain, not
an entity beyond this.

BillK