Transhumanism and Religion

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the intersection of transhumanism, neurology and religious belief. The role of various brain structures in religious experiences (especially the frontal lobes) is discussed, including a discussion of how pathological brain conditions such as epilepsy can influence religious beliefs. The chapter begins with a discusuion of how various thinkers such as Marx and Freud imagined that the influence of religion would weaken over time and continues on to discuss the evolutionary origins of religious belief, the nature of religious experience as well as neurological and pharmacological circumstances that may influence a person’s religious experiences, including hyper-religiosity syndromes and the central role of the frontal lobes in religiosity.