NEUROSCIENTIST, RELIGIOUS
FUNDAMENTALISM A MENTAL ILLNESS2
Meredith
Bennett-Smith 1
June
6, 2013
An Oxford University researcher and author specializing in
neuroscience has suggested that one day religious
fundamentalism may be treated as a curable mental illness.
Kathleen Taylor1, who
describes herself as a "science writer affiliated to the Department of
Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics," made the suggestion during a
presentation on brain
research at the Hay Literary Festival in Wales on Wednesday.
In response
to a question about the future of neuroscience, Taylor said that "One
of the surprises may be to see people with certain beliefs as people who can be
treated," The Times of London notes.
“Someone who has for example become radicalised to a
cult ideology -- we might stop seeing that as a personal choice that they have
chosen as a result of pure free will and may start treating it as some kind of
mental disturbance," Taylor said. “In many ways it could be a very
positive thing because there are no doubt beliefs in our society that do a heck
of a lot of damage."
The author went on to say she wasn't just referring to the "obvious
candidates like radical Islam," but also meant such beliefs as the
idea that beating children is acceptable.
Taylor was not immediately available for comment.
This is not the first time Taylor has explored the mind processes of a radical.
In 2006, she wrote a book about mind control called Brainwashing: The Science
of Thought Control, which explored the science behind the persuasive tactics of
such groups as cults and al Qaeda.
"We all change our beliefs of course," Taylor said in a YouTube video about the
book. "We all persuade each other to do things; we all watch
advertising; we all get educated and experience [religions.] Brainwashing, if
you like, is the extreme end of that; it's the coercive, forceful,
psychological torture type."
Taylor also noted that brainwashing, though extreme, is part of a the "much more widespread phenomenon" of
persuasion. That is, "how we make people think things that might not be
good for them, that they might not otherwise have chosen to think."
However, Taylor has also been a voice of caution in terms of the ethics of
delving too deeply into the human brain's mysterious workings.
"Technologies which directly scan or manipulate brains cannot be neutral
tools, as open to commercial exploitation as any new gadget," Taylor wrote
in a blog post for The Huffington Post in 2012. "The brain supremacy
offers chances to improve human dignity, but it also risks abuse."
Watch the video to hear Kathleen
Taylor discuss her book Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control.
Footnotes:
1.
Dr. Kathleen Taylor, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics,
University of Oxford; http://neurotaylor.com/about/
3. Kathleen Taylor - Brainwashing:
The Science of Thought Control; https://youtu.be/80xKMuA3gKo
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