by Warren Longwell

Created on: May 02, 2008

A fascinating look at the neurobiology of the belief process was the highlight presentation at this year's 2008 Conference on World Affairs. Of course, all of the usual topics were presented, discussed, and debated: climate change, global petro-supply projections, geo-engineering solutions, 4th generation warfare tactics, looming global food shortages, U.S. foreign policy as a destabilizing element, exponential rise in population numbers within the Islamic world, and something new this year- a look at the neurobiology of the human belief process. It is this last topic on which I want to report, for it represents something that may possibly have a bearing on everything else.

On a panel titled, "Hardwired to Believe," neurobiologists presented data on a study which looked at brain response differences in people who classified themselves as either a believer or a skeptic. Here's how it worked. The person was put into an MRI machine which looked at blood flow in the brain when the person was presented with certain statements of belief. Such statements were "Patriotism is always a virtue," or "Democracy is worth dying for," or "Jesus is the Savior of mankind," or "Evolution is a hoax." Self-proclaimed believers responded to such statements with brain activity in the pleasure centers- brain activity similar to that which resulted from seeing the image of an attractive member of the opposite sex, or from hearing a favorite piece of music. Self-proclaimed skeptics had no such pleasure response to the belief statements.

The MRI tests were done in the United States with the belief statements reflecting the cultural and religious ideas that stir debate here in America. Presumably, the same results would be seen in a Muslim believer who was stimulated with statements like "The Koran is the source of all truth and wisdom," or "Religious martyrs go to Heaven," or "The U.S. invasion of Iraq is a modern crusade." Assuming that the MRI tests show a real and valid neuro-response to the universal phenomenon of human belief, and assuming that the biological mechanism works the same way in the Islamic world, the implications are staggering. All the happy talk that "The U.S. Marines are winning hearts and minds in the Mideast," is probably completely bogus. The science seems to show that people don't change beliefs easily, not even at the point of a gun.

How, you might ask, does this science impact the other topics at this year's conference? Wendy Chamberlin gave a sobering lecture

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