Chapter 3

The How 

 

            Religion is clearly something that humans do.  Despite the fact that our brains have evolved to be capable of critical thinking, most of us choose to suspend logic in order to believe what everyone else in the group is believing. 

            This begs two questions: 1. Why? and 2. How?

            1.  Why is it an advantage for most members of our species to think in unison like a bunch of moronic automatrons?  (This is more of an anthropological question.)

and

            2.  How does a brain that is capable of critical thinking suspend such thinking and yet give us the sense that we are being logical? (This is more of a neuro-cognitive question.)

            I discussed some of the why in chapter 1 but I will continue to add stuff throughout this book.  For now, let's consider the "how."  Let's dissect the brain and see how it works.  Let's look inside the black box. 

            Here is a diagram so that you can understand some of the language I will be using.

            First, we should consider how the human brain can be fooled.  I hope that you agree that the human brain can be fooled.  Yes, even yours.  OK, Godammit, even mine!

            So, if Jesus rising from the dead was a magic trick, might that explain a few things?

            A friend of mine who is an atheist once asked me, "Where did all these silly ideas for religion come from.  Where did they all begin?"

            One place that religion can begin is when the brain gets fooled.  When people have experiences that they don't understand it is natural to try and explain them.  Therefore, looking at how the brain can be fooled is the natural place to begin a quest to understand how our brains do religion.

            I don't know if I told you this or not but in addition to everything else, I am a professional magician.  I have spent a lot of time learning how to trick people.  Usually us magicians use some type of misdirection.  Hey, look at this hand ... while you hide something with the other hand.  That sort of thing. 

            I have extensively studied how to do lots of magic tricks so I can usually figure out how most of them are done.  However, if you have a really good or original illusion and you want to have some fun, show it to me.  I get really pissed off when I can't figure out how you did it.  Well, I pretend that I know how you did it until you pin me down.  Then, I pretend that it is no big deal and I'm not upset.

            But ... believe me, I'm pissed!

            Most people think that individuals with high IQs are less gullible and harder to fool.  Au contraire my little one.  Smart people are often the easiest to fool.  And the most fun because they get the most upset.  They are better at paying attention so they are also better at following misdirection.  Try doing a complex magic trick to a three year old.  Yeah, good luck with that.

            Smart people also seem to be more prone to believing things that are not true.  Is there a connection?

            Back to how the brain can be fooled.  The human brain is plugged into its environment through five sensory organs.  Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin.  These sensory organs send information to the brain.  The major lobes of the brain are illustrated in the diagram above.  Sight enters in the rear at the occipital lobe.  Sound enters on the side at the temporal lobe.  Smell and taste, which are chemically sort of the same thing, enter underneath the frontal lobe but in a much older part of the brain you can't see in this diagram called the forebrain.  Touch comes in through the parietal lobes.

            Then, the human brain does something unique in the animal kingdom.  Well, almost unique in the animal kingdom as we have discovered recently that bonobos and chimps also do it.  So, the human brain does something unique to apes, at least, that is what we currently know but maybe there are other species that do this.  In any case, it is a relatively rare trait in the animal kingdom.  Anyways, it is that the lobes communicate with one another.  That is to say, sensory input is synthesized and this is called multi-modal sensory perception.  This allows you to hear an airplane and get a mental image of what it must look like even if you don't actually see it.  You can smell blueberry muffins and sense what they will taste like.  You can see an ice cube and imagine how cold it will feel.  Surprisingly, most other animals can not do this.  When Fido hears a ball bounce in the other room he has no image in his head of a ball. 

            The other unique thing that our brains do is to take this synthesized sensory input and manipulate it in the abstract.  This activity takes place in the frontal lobe.  Look at the diagram and see how large the human frontal lobe is.  It is really a thing of remarkable beauty.  No other species has one like that.  And no other species can manipulate sensory input in an abstract way.  Well, chimps and bonobos do have the same brain structure and relative number of neurons to body size but it is still smaller and has fewer absolute number of neurons.  We think maybe these apes can do some rudimentary abstract thinking and there may be some other animals that can also but, again, it is a pretty rare thing.  

            I apologize for getting emotional talking about frontal lobes.  Maybe you have to be a neuroscientist to fully appreciate how absolutely gorgeous our frontal lobes are.  I don't know, maybe dentists think we have beautiful molars or something. 

            Some of you may have been aware that our frontal lobes are unique in the animal kingdom but there is one other location on the surface of our brains that is also unique.  It is called the angular gyrus.  It is located at the juncture of the parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes.  It is not pictured in the diagram above.  To better understand this location, imagine that you are standing at the juncture of Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado.  You can say that you are standing in three states at the same time.  I guess that would require you to have a third leg.  I could do it but, you know.  

            The function of the angular gyrus is communication between the sensory inputs to these three lobes.  Since most other species don't do that, most other species don't have an angular gyrus.  Thus, the angular gyrus combines and synthesizes sensory input and then sends it to the frontal lobe to be processed in an abstract way. 

            Your IQ, incidentally, is kind of a measure of your ability to think abstractly.  Knowledge, visual-spatial skills, and memory are also tested but abstracting ability is the real test of higher brain function.  This kind of sensory integration and abstract processing have evolved relatively recently.  Therefore, the wiring is not very complex.  There are not as many redundant circuits, so to speak.  This results in these functions not always working perfectly.  They have not been evolving long enough to have gotten all the bugs out of the system. 

            Nevertheless, our cognitive functions are impressive when compared to other species.  For example, go to your pit bull and say, "Fido, how is a rabbit and a poodle the same thing?" 

            Although you and I might think he would say something like, "They both belong to the meat, poultry, fish, dry beans and eggs food group," in reality he would think something like, "They are both brown."  He sees only physical qualities and only in one sensory modality.

            Now ask him to describe quantum field theory.  You get the idea.  Humans are the only known life form that is capable of synthesizing and manipulating sensory input and doing abstract thinking, at least to that extent.  To take this one step further, Einstein manipulated time and space in an original and very abstract way but he was incapable of doing this for quantum theory.  (i.e.  Perhaps, it was not consistent with his religious views.  he...he...)

            Can you think abstractly? 

            Why don't you see if you can answer this question:  Which symbol in the Answer Figure completes the sequence in the Problem Figure? 

            The answer is C. 

            Here is the explanation:  The question figure is rotated clockwise through 90 degrees each time.

           

            Do you think that you would be able to believe in God if you couldn't answer this test question correctly?  It seems to me like you wouldn't.  God is, if you have not figured it out yet, an abstract idea.  Probably even more bizarre of an abstract idea than the time-space thing that the Kike Krout came up with.  Hmmm, Kike Krouts Kicking ass ... KKK ... what do you know?

 

            How about if we teach Fido about God?  Hey, maybe we can talk him into becoming a Catholic?

            I'm thinking that when the Catholics suggest to Fido that he not eat meat, they aren't likely to have an enthusiastic convert. 

            Why is it that my intelligent wife so easily believes all kinds of Christian stuff but we can't get that dumb ass Fido to believe any of it?

            How do we reconcile the notion that our brains developed the ability to think abstractly and to think logically and to do critical thinking and yet they suspend these abilities on a regular basis? 

            When an event happens that fools us or is something we don't understand we accept as real the first crazy thing that someone suggests.  Why do we do that?

            Actually, some things we automatically reject and continue to reject even when shown indisputable evidence.  The difference has to do with our programming.  We are programmed to easily believe certain things and consistently reject certain other things.  If you tell me that Obama is trying to tap our phone lines I can easily believe that but if you tell me that time and space are the same thing I will require a lot of evidence and even then I still may not believe you.  We will keep talking about this but for now let's get back to fooling ourselves.

            OK, now I will talk about a number of ways that our brains can be fooled.  This discussion will not be totally inclusive.  To do that would require several large hard bound textbooks.  I just want you to get the idea that there are lots of ways our brains can be fooled.

            Optical

             These are 4 perfectly round circles.

               

 

            This is a lamp you pervert.

                 

 

            Stare at the middle for a minute and see the pulsing vortex.

 

            Is the wand I am holding made out of flexible rubber or hard plastic.

Magic wand

OK, this one is really freaky.

             Stare at the cross and see if the faces change.

            

Auditory

The McGurk effect  

(I should probably have used a video of either George Bush or Barack Obama or no wait, Sarah Palin, speaking in public to illustrate this one.) 

 

Tactile

            1.  If a person exposes their forearm and closes their eyes or turns their head in the opposite direction while a second person slowly traces a finger from the wrist upward to the crook of the elbow, many people are unable to say when the crease of their elbow is being touched.

            2.  If one hand is immersed in cold water and the other in hot for a minute or so, and then both hands are placed in lukewarm water, the lukewarm water will feel hot to the hand previously immersed in cold water, and cold to the hand previously immersed in hot water.

            3.  An example of an active touch illusion is the contingent after-effect. When the thumb and forefinger are slid repeatedly along the edge of a wedge, a rectangular block then handled in the same manner will feel deformed.

            4.  Moving the crossed index and middle finger along an edge evokes the perception of two parallel edges. Similarly, if a person crosses their index and middle finger and then rolls a marble between the tips of the fingers, two marbles are perceived.

 

Olfactory and Gustatory

            These sensory receptors are evolutionarily old.  They have developed complex and overlapping circuitry in the human brain. Therefore, they are hard to fool in an anatomically and physiologically healthy subject.

            There are some things you can do that seem to be illusory.  For example, if you hold your nose you may have a hard time differentiating apple chunks from potato chunks.  The problem is that olfactory sensation is a requirement in order to experience taste. That's why you stick your nose into a wide mouthed wine glass when sipping an expensive cabernet.  At least, us sophisticated folks do this.  In any case, this is not an illusion.

            In disease states such as epilepsy, brain injuries, migraines etc, you can have some very interesting olfactory and gustatory sensations but these are better described as hallucinations than illusions.

            Of course, you can suggest something either verbally or visually and cause someone to smell or taste something that is not real.  However, this is not an illusion of the olfactory or gustatory receptors.  This is the power of suggestion which is a completely different way to fool the brain.

 

 

The Power of Suggestion

           In addition to being a magician, I'm also a hypnotist.  There are many things that I can get a subject to believe through hypnotic suggestion.  For example, I can cause your arm to be so numb that you don't experience pain when I prick it with a needle.  In fact, pain is so easy to control with suggestion that open heart surgery is occasionally performed on individuals under hypnosis and with no anesthesia.

            Other things that are relatively easy to suggest are relaxation, anti-nausea, smoking cessation, and weight loss.  One thing that has been controversial is how reliably you can cause an individual to remember previously repressed memories of childhood trauma.  Recently, investigators have demonstrated how easy it is to plant false memories through the power of suggestion.  Watch this video, it is really amazing.  Planting false memories 

           Penn and Teller frequently use the power of suggestion to create hilarious videos of people who believe dumb things.  Here are some of my favorites. 

Magnetic therapy

Bottled water

Alien abductions

 

            How can you possibly watch Penn and Teller and fail to understand that the human brain is susceptible to the power of suggestion.  OK, if there is still anyone out there who thinks this is bullshit, put your nose very close to the computer screen and read this:  

ooo...aaaa....uuuu...humans are suggestible, aaa....uuuu...oooo... humans are suggestible, aaa...uuu...ooo...humans are suggestible, aaa....uuuu...oooo...humans are suggestible, aaa...uuu...ooo..

  

            Now that we all believe in the power of suggestion, let's explore how the brain does that.  Also, how the sensory receptors in the brain get fooled. 

            Neuroimaging researchers have produced a lot of pretty pictures in the last 15 years that demonstrate how the brain functions when getting fooled. Basically, it functions exactly the same as if it was not getting fooled.

            For example, you can image the brain when you are watching real movement and then image the brain when you are seeing an illusion that fools you into thinking you are watching real movement.  The images are the same.  Brain Perceives Optical Illusions As Real Motion

             The same thing applies to the power of suggestion.  Analgesia produced by hypnosis looks the same on a brain image as analgesia produced by opioids.  Imaging a Shared Neuronal Network

            These studies make it hard to conceive of a "mind" or a "soul" or some sort of sentient other brain that is separate from our biology.  Homo sapiens are organic, not metaphysical.

            An important point here is the idea that we have confidence that what we perceive as real is, in fact, real.  If the biology of our brains dictate that information is processed in the same way regardless of whether it is real or illusory, then why would you expect us to have insight into the fact that we are being fooled?

            As a great example of this you should watch an IMAX movie of a roller coaster ride and try to convince yourself that your body is not actually in motion.

 

 

 

The Subconscious Brain 

            Do we experience sensory events without knowing it?

            Of course we do.

            Why?

            It allows us to process a larger amount of information than we would be able to process were we required to be aware of every incoming piece of information.  In other words, because we can synthesize information from five sensory modalities at the same time we are at risk of having a system overload.  To avoid having to re-boot, our brains have the ability to process any additional information without making us consciously aware of it.

            Wouldn't you think that Bill Gates would be able to figure out how to do this?  //...... dammiot  ese   Excuse me, I had to reboot...fucking PC.

            Do we use this information? 

            I mean, if we are not aware of it, do we use it?

            Yes.  We use this "subconscious" information to make decisions.  Then, we call it "thinking with our gut."

            In fact, we use a lot of the information that we derive from sensory input that we are unaware of.  We use this information to make decisions every day.  Then, that big fat frontal lobe that is capable of abstract thought has to rationalize why we made these decisions.  The better the brain is at making up an explanation, the more likely you are to believe something for which there is no evidence.  This is how smart people believe dumb things.  And how those dumb things may not be so dumb.

            Here is an example.

            There is a famous case of a formula one race car driver who braked sharply when nearing a hairpin bend without knowing why.  As a result he avoided hitting a pile-up of cars on the track ahead, undoubtedly saving his life.  The driver couldn't explain why he felt he should stop, but the urge was much stronger than his desire to win the race.

            The driver underwent forensic analysis by psychologists afterwards.  He was shown a video to mentally relive the event.  In hindsight he realized that the crowd, which would have normally been cheering him on, wasn't looking at him coming up to the bend but was looking the other way in a static, frozen way.  That was the cue.  He didn't consciously process this, but he knew something was wrong and stopped in time.     British Journal of Psychology, 99, 1-27, 2008 

            This driver was unaware that he was processing visual and auditory information about the crowd.  Yet, this information was intense and pertinent and caused a quick response that was totally counter to everything he was trying to do at the time. 

            Most people think we are a "higher order" species and our behavior is intelligent and rational and logical.  They believe that there is no way that thinking with the gut is superior to calculated decision making. 

            Our brains might not work like you think they do but the way they actually work is out of this world amazing!  Damn, I said, "Out of this world."  You see how susceptible even Stupid Levystien is to making up a fanciful explanation.. 

 

Networking

                Another way we increase our brain power is by networking with other brains. 10 brains are better than one brain. 100 are better than 10 and 1000 are better than 100.  So, how do we network?

You are a mother fucking bag of shit!!!!

                (Of course, my wife and both my 11 year old boys came by and stared at what I was writing at the very moment that I wrote in large black letters, "You are a mother fucking bag of shit."  I tried to explain but you know how that goes.)

                Anyways, I am not in the same room as you and, indeed, I am not even in the same time as you.  I did not give you any pharmaceuticals and I did not touch you.  Yet, I was able to affect your heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate.  Our brains are connected through our five sensory modalities and our brains are designed to synthesize the information we exchange.

            You see me, smell me, hear me, feel me, and sometimes even taste me.  I hope that you don't taste me in the same way that Tyson tasted Holyfield but you get the idea.  Your brain receives information in this way even if you are not consciously aware of it.  Then, you send information back to me in the same way.

            While the information is in one or both of our brains we synthesize it.  For example, if I smelled blood on you and heard you scream but I could not see you I might envision the bullet that just hit you.  My brain imagines the man who just shot a thirty-ought six, by my hearing, in your direction.  He is behind and to the right.  Don't worry, I got him.

            It is how we work together.  It is one of the ties that bind.  Yeah, there are more than one.

            It makes me think how funny it looks when you see a movie where there are commandos and they are communicating by pointing two fingers at their eyes and then at a target.  Real commandos rarely need to do this.  The brains of two commandos are in very close communication.  The second guy would easily understand exactly what the first guy was communicating in 99% of cases.  The first guy would hardly ever have to do anything as demonstrative as pointing to his eyes.

            Because we are all linked up as though we were computers that are networked, we have a tendency to all think and believe the same things.  But this is for survival and to accomplish tasks.  It is not for the purpose of scientifically figuring out the theory of everything.   To do that we must un-learn all this evolutionarily developed intelligently illogical brain stuff and allow review boards to rip our guts out and mentors to become frustrated with us and even secretaries to not appreciate our tirades ... and, OH, sorry.

·

            To synthesize all this if my brain will allow me, Lewis Black's brother dies and he continues to feel his presence.  His brother is no longer alive but he has a sensation that he is still there.  He has no explanation for this feeling.  His friend George Carlin suggests that it is his brother's spirit that is still alive in heaven.  Failing to appreciate the sarcasm, Lewis believes this comment to be true.  He performs zero investigation of this suggestion that sounds so great to him.  He thinks to himself, "Yes, maybe there is a God."  Then, he writes a book and uses this as an example of something you can't explain that may mean that God is real.

            Here's the thing, your brain can still smell your brother from his clothing or his room or his car or whatever.  You still see numerous photographs of him and one in particular makes you re-experience what it felt like when he hugged you.  Eating his favorite pie makes you hear his voice inside your head.  Multiple memories of him are triggered and re-experienced due to multiple sensory experiences.

            For some unknown and crazily ironic reason, Lewis had obtained a Positron Emission Tomographic image (PET) of his brain while observing his living brother wearing a Broncos jersey.  He now goes and gets a second PET image while smelling his brothers old shirt and getting a mental image of him wearing it.  To his amazement, there is no difference.  A functional brain image shows no difference between you remembering these things and you actually experiencing these things.  You have no way of knowing that these sights and sounds, or in this case smells, are not real. 

            You are not consciously aware of these sensory inputs or even the memory of these sensory inputs coming in and being synthesized and processed abstractly.  Just like the race car driver who used this kind of information to avoid a wreck.

            You see George again and accept his offer to go to church.  (Obviously, I'm making this up but just go with it for a minute.)  You think that maybe you can sense even more of your brother there. The only explanation for all this that you can come up with is that he is communicating with you from heaven.  At church the priest says some amorphous or trite or irritatingly simplistic slogan or saying or something and it hits you like a ton of bricks.  My God!  My brother is alive and he is in heaven looking down on me and I will see him again someday!

            You continue thinking, "I hope he isn't too pissed off being in a place where he has nothing to bitch about ... wait a minute, he would definitely be in the place worth bitching about.  What was I thinking?  Yeah, OK, there is no God."

            If you are like most people, then you are not very capable of independent thought.  You might be very susceptible to this kind of thing.  Also, it would be a free ticket to be loved and accepted by a whole ton of people.  Perhaps, there is even some secondary gain to be had?

            Independent thinkers who criticize the fanciful beliefs of a particular group of humans need to understand that this is how our brains work.  Also, according to Levystien who saw all of this on the sixth day ... it is good.

 

Chapter 4

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