Sep 23 2008
Not Demons But an Immature Dentate Gyrus
In a recent article over at ScienceDaily, I learned that “the dentate gyrus, which is located in the hippocampus in the brain and thought to be responsible for working memory and mood regulation, remained immature in an animal model of schizophrenia.”
In previous centuries, and in some cultural backwoods today, people have resorted to all sorts of non-tested and non-testable explanations for the cause of a group of behaviors we now refer to as symptoms of schizophrenia. Bad spirits and demons were high on the list.
But what can we expect from people who lack(ed) the tools, material and intellectual, that we now have?
In the present time of a heated-up culture war between science and religion, it seems to me that those in the religion camp are clinging to old tools. At least when defended what they claim to know (vs. say, the value of participating in a community of like-minded others). Religion, by and large, provides tools no better than a dowsing rod. In today’s age of machines that mechanically or electromagnetically penetrate deep below the surface to provide a wealth of new information, it boggles my mind that people still opt for the dowsing rod and other techniques that generate mere hunches at best.
[...] daily life and then ignoring perfectly acceptable scientific explanations in order to claim more Demon proof. What’s next? Back to witch hunts and Guardian Angels? Sighing He turned his omniscience back [...]