Monthly Archives: April 2011
Is Belief in a Vengeful God More Likely to Promote Moral Behavior Than Belief in a Loving God Is?
Science and Religion Today asks Is Belief in a Vengeful God More Likely to Promote Moral Behavior Than Belief in a Loving God Is? People’s moral behavior is affected by all sorts of things— and religious beliefs may make the difference.
Does the Mind Have a Future?
Baroness Susan Greenfield, Professor of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, University of Oxford, provides an intriguing webcast addressing the future of the mind. Biotechnology is blurring the distinction between one generation and another, nanotechnology is blurring the distinction of the body … Continue reading
Kandel addresses educators concerning Memory and Academic Learning
Featured speaker Eric R. Kandel, a Nobel Laureate and vice-chairman of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives (DABI), explicated the connection: “Learning is how we acquire information, and memory is how we store that information. Education is about enhancing learning, … Continue reading
Childhood Music Lessons May Provide Lifelong Boost in Brain Functioning
A report from ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2011) — Those childhood music lessons could pay off decades later — even for those who no longer play an instrument — by keeping the mind sharper as people age, according to a preliminary … Continue reading
Fingerprints of God review
Those interested in our annual meeting plenary speaker Barbara Bradley Hagerty, may want to read the following online review of her work Fingerprints of God by Dr. Taede A. Smedes, a philosopher of religion and a research fellow at the … Continue reading
The Ethics of Neuroenhancement
Two resources that discuss contemporary issues around cognitive neuroenchancement (the use of drugs to enhance rather than heal human behavior). Martha Farah, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Natural Sciences, with the University of Pennsylvania Center for Neuroscience and Society, offers … Continue reading
Scientific American: How “Inadmissible” Brain Scans Can Still Influence the Courts
Neuroscience can shape ethical and legal discourse, changing the way religious educators engage moral and ethical concerns. Michael Gazzaniga’s Scientific American article details how neurological evidence can affect the outcome of criminal cases even if juries never hear it.
Conference includes social networking options
This year’s conference can be found on various social networks including the Religious Education Association Annual Meeting on Lanyard, a social conference directory and a Twitter site REA2011Meeting and also on Facebook page for Religious Education Association/APPRRE. See the bottom … Continue reading
Biochemical Support for Creativity?
A Research Article in the Journal of Neuroscience offers evidence in an article titled Biochemical Support for the “Threshold” Theory of Creativity: A Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study
Eric Kandel Documentary screening at Annual Meeting
Conference attendees will have an opportunity to view the film documentary In Search of Memory, an autobiographical account of Nobel Prize Neuroscientist Eric Kandel. The Petra Seeger film has been well received in showings in Germany and the United States. … Continue reading
