[extropy-chat] UK Science Center to Probe Mysteries of the Mind

[Giu1i0 Pri5c0]

Can there be a predisposition for fundamentalism? Do the faithful cope
more easily with pain? Are they faster to recover from illness?
Such are the questions scientists and theologians will attempt to
answer at a new study center which starts experiments into human
consciousness in the next few months.
The Oxford Center for Science of the Mind (OXSCOM) could be the first
of its kind in the world, its founders believe.
OXSCOM has received a $2 million grant for a two-year pilot run from
the American-based philanthropic John Templeton Foundation to carry
out a range of experiments, some of which will use pain techniques to
see if the faithful cope better with pain than non-believers.
"What we'll be doing is exploring consciousness and particularly how
consciousness is shaped and substantiated in the brain, how a belief
can trigger or change your consciousness, and how one can affect the
other".
http://olympics.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=7330559