God's brain /
Lionel Tiger, Michael McGuire.
- Amherst, N.Y. : Prometheus Books, 2010.
- 256 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
And what an amazing, if improbable, story it is -- You need both a zoom lens and a microscope to see religion -- Adventures of the soul -- Faith in sex -- Religion as law and the denial of biology -- Is religion monkey business? -- My brain. Your liturgy. Our state of grace. -- The elephant in the chapel is in your skull -- Puzzles, answers, and more puzzles -- And what's your brainsoothe score? -- Rather a beginning, not a conclusion.
In a concise, lively, accessible, and witty style, the authors combine zoom-lens vignettes of religious practices with discussions of the latest research on religion's neurological effects on the brain. Among other topics, they consider religion's role in providing positive socialization, its seeming obsession with regulating sex, how religion's rules of behavior influence the law, the common biological scaffolding between nonhuman primates and humans and how this affects religion, a detailed look at brain chemistry and how it changes as a result of stress.