Do atheists think differently from religious people? Scientists are trying to find out
Atheists may think more analytically than religious people, but it is far from proven. Jan 23, 2021 · 11:30 pm If believing in gods is intuitive, then this intuition can be overridden by more careful thinking. | Wikimedia Commons [Licensed under CC-PD-Mark]
The cognitive study of religion has recently reached a new, unknown land: the minds of unbelievers. Do atheists think differently from religious people? Is there something special about how their brains work? To illustrate what they have found, I will focus on three key snapshots.
The first one, from 2003, is probably the most photogenic moment of “neuro-atheism”. Biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins travelled to the lab of Canadian neuroscientist Michael Persinger in the hope of having a religious experience.