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Study suggests 'born-again' believers have smaller brains (USAToday)

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BadGimp Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 03:17 PM
Original message
Study suggests 'born-again' believers have smaller brains (USAToday)

By Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service

DURHAM, N.C. — For decades, mainline Protestants have been beset by bad news: declining numbers, aging membership, waning cultural influence. A new study from Duke University Medical Center, however, gives these Protestants one reason for cheer: they seem to have larger brains than born-again Christians, Roman Catholics and the religiously unaffiliated.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2011-05-25-brain24_ST_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

...................

Thank you Professor Obvious..
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Maat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 03:19 PM
Response to Original message
1. I'm sorry but this type of thing is just obnoxious.
I'm a UU, and we honor all perspectives, and study and glean wisdom from a variety of sources. I honor the various belief systems, and non-belief in a deity itself.
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cleanhippie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 08:38 PM
Response to Reply #1
14. I attend a UU fellowship too. What does that have to do with this study?
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Maat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 10:58 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. None of the UUs in my congregation would believe anything but ...
Edited on Wed May-25-11 11:01 PM by Maat
that this study is flawed. To imply that a certain group of individuals are less emotionally intelligent than others (which is the gist of this) is bigoted and false.

I don't believe it, and think that the OP was a bigoted post.
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ixion Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 03:20 PM
Response to Original message
2. Yeah, no kidding. Talk about stating the obvious
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Quantess Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 03:32 PM
Response to Original message
3. Brain size is not what determines intelligence.
It's all about the white matter, the connections, the amount of neurons, etc. A large brain could still have holes in it, while a smaller brain could be more functional than a larger one.
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Donnachaidh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 03:34 PM
Response to Original message
4. yeah, and the founder of one of the funders was a lifelong presbyterian
Follow the money -- you'll find the REAL reason behind this sort of bigotted junk science.
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Duer 157099 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 03:36 PM
Response to Original message
5. My own study suggests that the Rapturist have an even smaller hippocampus
Since the hippocampus is involved with memory, it explains why the date can keep changing and they keep buying it.
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Obamaforthewin Donating Member (40 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 03:37 PM
Response to Original message
6. I think that this is a pro propaganda piece for Protestants,
Not necessarily against "born again" believers as it might be interpreted.

I'm guessing that "religiously unaffiliated" is code for "atheist".
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LiberalFighter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 04:30 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. As an atheist I would have to believe my brain functioning is far more superior
than any religious nut or even regular church attender.
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Union Scribe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 04:37 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Not enough to form an articulate sentence, though.
How odd.
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Maat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 10:59 PM
Response to Reply #9
16. HeeHee (n/t).
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Ninjaneer Donating Member (577 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-26-11 01:20 PM
Response to Reply #9
18. Yeah, well you should see the religious nuts or regular church attenders,
they make him look like the next Einstein.

BOOM TISH!!

tyty I'll be here all week....
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WolverineDG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 04:55 PM
Response to Reply #8
13. It must be hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-07_2DWfEmQ

dg
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Union Scribe Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 04:40 PM
Response to Reply #6
10. Yeah I don't think people are reading past the headline.
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originalpckelly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 03:41 PM
Response to Original message
7. "religiously unaffiliated"
Edited on Wed May-25-11 03:41 PM by originalpckelly
Yeah, I bet.

:rofl:
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marions ghost Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 04:43 PM
Response to Original message
11. Duke Medical and NIH
are not exactly anti-religion groups. Usually produce very sound research.

I don't know what the Templeton Foundation is exactly, which also helped fund the study.

The researcher does say the results have to be replicated.
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WolverineDG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 04:53 PM
Response to Original message
12. Women also have smaller brains than men
does that mean we're intellectually inferior to men?

dg
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Maat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed May-25-11 11:02 PM
Response to Reply #12
17. I'm sure that many would like to believe that.
Edited on Wed May-25-11 11:02 PM by Maat
;-)
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okasha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-26-11 03:12 PM
Response to Reply #12
19. Women have smaller brains
in absolute terms, but not in relation to body mass. That's the crucial factor, not simply size taken alone. Humans and other primates, elephants, cetaceans, parrots and birds of the crow family all have large brains in relation to body mass.
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struggle4progress Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu May-26-11 09:02 PM
Response to Original message
20. More discussion here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x282604
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