Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

brain

Science Corner: Fruit Flies Like a Banana… And We’re Closer to Knowing Why

“I prefer a barely ripe Musa balbisiana with floral notes and a tart finish.” (Photo by treegrow )

With the American Scientific Affiliation meeting coming up this week, I’ve got connecting on the brain. And now after catching up with the science news, I’m also thinking about the connections in the fruit fly brain. It was announced last week that scientists have taken a series of images of a fruit fly brain with enough detail to see every neuron. Of even greater interest is the ability to see every connection between pairs of neurons. Studying how neurons are “wired up” can provide insight into where specific sensory information is processed, for example, which might illuminate how that information is processed. As a first step, some researchers looked at the neurons connected to the olfactory system–where the fruit fly presumably detects the aroma of bananas.
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Trouble in Mind: Attending to the Interplay of Mind and Body in Treating Depression

blues guitar photo
Photo by damien_thorne

Psalm 139:13-14 (NASB): For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.

 

Trouble in mind, I’m blue
But I won’t be blue always
‘Cause I know the sun’s gonna shine in my back door someday
(composed by Richard M. Jones and first recorded in 1924)

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Science Corner: What really happens when you get to 100%

A poster for the film Lucy; the title character is seeing cell phone transmissions as visible lines of data.
Lucy strives to use 100% of her brain. (Photo copyright Universal Studios)

If you’ve encountered any of the marketing for the film Lucy, you know it is premised on the old canard that humans only use 10% of their brains. Even if it were true, and it isn’t, it doesn’t automatically follow that accessing the other 90% would enable one to see wireless data signals as shiny columns of letters or consciously control the length and color of your hair. But the appeal is understanding. We all want to believe we possess untapped potential; it allows us to believe a better life is just around the corner.

It turns out, though, that we should be trying to use less of our brain, not more. [Read more…] about Science Corner: What really happens when you get to 100%

Asking Jeeves

Minds, Brains, Souls and Gods: A Conversation on Faith, Psychology and Neuroscience by Malcolm Jeeves. InterVarsity Press, 2013. Note: For additional ESN blog posts on this title explore this tag.

There is a pressing need for healthy dialogue regarding the psychology, and biology, of faith. Do humans have free will? What are the respective roles of the mind, the soul, and the brain? Are reports of supernatural experiences evidence for or against the existence of Heaven? Are we pre-conditioned to seek out a divine being? These are not questions from which Christians should not shy away. In fact, I’m convinced that by leaning into the discussion, our faith will be deepened and enriched.

Dr. Malcolm Jeeves’s latest book, Minds, Brains, Souls and Gods: A Conversation on Faith, Psychology and Neuroscience [1], offers a first step into encounters with questions of psychology and faith. Jeeves’s long and esteemed career in psychology gives him a wealth of knowledge from which to draw.  Presented in the form of email dialogue between a freshman psychology student and an emeritus scholar, Jeeves’s book presents both current and historical scholarly perspectives on our existence as physical, intellectual, and spiritual beings. Accessing these deeply seasoned perspectives in such an approachable manner is a rare opportunity for the lay public.

I confess it took me a while to settle into this text. Jeeves is careful to orient uninitiated readers to the academic frameworks discussed, but many of the topics of most interest personally were found in the later chapters. [Read more…] about Asking Jeeves

Can Science ‘Explain Away’ Religion?

Minds, Brains, Souls and Gods: A Conversation on Faith, Psychology and Neuroscience by Malcolm Jeeves. InterVarsity Press, 2013.

In Chapter 18 of Minds, Brains, Souls and Gods: A Conversation on Faith, Psychology and Neuroscience (InterVarsity Press, 2013), Malcolm Jeeves[1] discusses the question “Can Science ‘Explain Away’ Religion?” with his fictional psychology student “mentee”. Have you wrestled with this question? How have you addressed it? Do you concur with what Jeeves offers?

Can Science “Explain Away” Religion?

Malcolm,
Your emails have pointed out that the same evidence is often interpreted in very different ways. For example, some Christians point to the evidence that certain parts of the brain are active during prayer, and they try to use that as proof for the existence of God. Others understand the same evidence as showing that praying to God is “nothing but” the selective activity of specific brain areas. Can you help me understand how to properly relate scientific findings to Christian beliefs? [Read more…] about Can Science ‘Explain Away’ Religion?