Harnessing the Science of Spirit

Can science provide people with on-demand access to God, Gaia, or whatever else floats their spiritual boat?

John Horgan reports from the cutting edge of applied neurotheology, where brain stimulation, genetic engineering and customized drugs are used to target parts of the brain associated with mystical experience:

Given that brain researchers have no idea how I conceived and typed this sentence, I doubt they will ever account for religious experiences in all their vast diversity and subtlety. Nor will they solve the riddle of whether God actually exists or is a figment of our evolved imaginations, like unicorns or superstrings. Neurotheology may nonetheless have a profound social impact, by yielding more potent, reliable methods of inducing spiritual experiences. [...]

Humans have long sought such experiences through meditation, yoga, prayer, guru-worship, fasting, and flagellation, but these methods are unreliable, notes James Austin, author of Zen and the Brain, one of the best books on neurotheology.

After describing some of the research, Horgan goes on to ask:

Both science and religion aim to eliminate suffering. But if a mystical technology makes us immune to anxiety, grief, and heartache, are we still fully human? Have we gained something or lost something? In short, would a truly effective mystical technology—a God machine that works—save us, or doom us?

It's an interesting question, but perhaps more relevant to discussions of mood-altering drugs and technologies. The bliss of a mystical experience doesn't last, and mystical experiences doesn't remove anxiety or heartache or grief. Instead they provide insights, ways of dealing with the sufferings of life.

I'm more curious whether a truly mystical experience could be had through the methods described by Horgan. Though spiritual self-stimulation is an ancient practice, it's never been done so self-consciously, with an understanding that the body's systems are being targeted with the same efficiency and focus that science brings to the treatment of pneumonia. Or maybe that is also beside the point?

Spirit Tech [Slate]

Image: Amit