Why do humans worship supernatural agents? | Patrick McNamara

This interview is an episode from @The-Well, our publication about ideas that inspire a life well-lived, created with the @JohnTempletonFoundation.

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Whether real or imagined, encounters with supernatural agents have been a consistent aspect of human experience for at least 30,000 years, spanning all cultures. Neuroscientist Patrick McNamara believes this is no coincidence. He argues that these agents fulfill essential roles for individuals and communities, including healing from trauma, discovering purpose, and alleviating anxiety.

Supernatural agents are generally considered to be entities with extraordinary powers, including gods, spirits, angels, demons, and ghosts. They are believed to know our thoughts and desires, possess the ability to heal and curse, and establish standards for humans to aspire to. People have reported encounters with these supernatural agents not only in religious contexts but also in non-religious settings, such as deep meditation, dreaming, and psychedelic experiences.

How can we make sense of this strange phenomenon? One way is to analyze brain activity: McNamara’s research reveals a similar pattern of brain activity during psychedelic experiences, REM sleep, and religious experiences where subjects encountered supernatural phenomena. These brain activity patterns are distinct from those observed when subjects are exposed to control agents. While debates continue about the reality of supernatural entities, those who have experienced them frequently describe them as authentic beings, not mere hallucinations. McNamara’s research aims to investigate this question further and explore how humans can continue to utilize the supernatural for personal and societal growth.

0:00 The supernatural experience
1:19 What is a supernatural agent?
3:17 The neuroscience of supernatural believers
4:35 The non-religious brain & psychedelics
5:27 Is the supernatural real?

Read the video transcript ► https://bigthink.com/the-well/what-are-supernatural-agents/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=youtube_description

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About Patrick McNamara:
Patrick McNamara is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northcentral University. He also holds appointments in the departments of Neurology at the University of Minnesota and Boston University School of Medicine. He is a founding editor of Religion, Brain & Behavior, the flagship journal for the emerging field of neuroscience of religion. McNamara's current research centers on the evolution of the frontal lobes, the evolution of the two mammalian sleep states (REM and NREM), and the evolution of religion in human cultures.

McNamara is the editor of Where God and Science Meet and Science and World Religions, and the author of The Neuroscience of Religious Experience (Cambridge University Press), Religion, Neuroscience and the Self: A New Personalism (Routledge), and numerous publications on the neurology and psychology of religion. McNamara is a John Templeton Foundation award recipient for his research project The Neurology of Religious Cognition.

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