Is Science a Belief? Is Religion a Science? Recent Research

Two ground-breaking papers from researchers at UCLA start to shed some light on the nature of belief: “The Neural Correlates of Religious and Nonreligious Belief” and “Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief and Uncertainty”. The “fMRI of Belief” concentrates on the initial results whereas the “Neural Correlates” paper looks more deeply at the implications for religious beliefs.

Our reactions to statements are mediated by emotional responses, so much so that such reactions happen for both religious and non-religious propositions. It is as if the mind trains itself to create a meaningful map by correlating truth and falsehood with pleasure and pain respectively. But does this then mean that both religions and the sciences are just belief systems sustained by emotional responses? Are we thereby just addicted to our prejudices?


Is Science a Belief? Is Religion a Science?