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On Mon, 1 May 2006, Stephen Montgomery-Smith wrote:
Mike Miller wrote:
.....
I suppose the time spent on the maintenance of "hopeful metaphysical
notions" won't stop you from getting your scientific work done. It could
be like having a hobby.
You give the impression that religion will hinder one in ones scientific
pursuits, rather like deafness hindered Beethoven or schizophrenia
hindered Nash (not to say that they didn't achieve a lot but I am sure
that these conditions did not help).
But my experience with religion and my professional career has been
rather the opposite. I became a Christian at the end of my first year
of my Ph.D. At that time, amongst other personal issues I faced), I felt
that my ability to effectively do mathematics was at its end. I felt
that I was going nowhere, very fast.
A few weeks after I became a Christian, my Ph.D. advisor began asking me
what I was up to, since I had been avoiding him for the prior year. We
arranged to meet the following week. I prayed about it, and asked my
friends to pray. A few days later, I sat down with a blank piece of
paper. It was as if all the fog and mush in my mind suddenly cleared.
Ideas just followed, one after the other. When I met my advisor a few
days later, I had plenty to tell him.
A few weeks later I was stuck on a problem. I prayed hard, and an hour
later it came out. This proof was something I never expected, and was
the cornerstone of the main results in my Ph.D. thesis. Again and
again, I find prayer has really helped me in my career.
In 1995 I made a decision that maybe I would put God on the backburner
for a while, and work primarily on my math career. Looking back, by far
my most productive years were pre-1995.
Interesting story, but what does it mean? When I am stuck on a complex
problem and need to come up with a new idea, I'll lie down on my bed and I
will stare at the ceiling. I will relax as much as possible and let my
ideas come to me. They do come. I wouldn't be surprised if we are both
doing the same thing but in somewhat different ways. Prayer and
meditation and other altered states might help creativity. Of course, to
me that is not evidence for the existence of God. I wouldn't quite say
that it is evidence of the helpfulness of religion because I think you can
get the same effect without religion.
As I said earlier, I am not claiming that religion is altogether harmful
because there are good effects. I am claiming that religions are almost
all entirely false belief systems with no basis in reality. It is
possible that holding false beliefs can help a person sometimes. In fact,
there is some research that indicates depressed people are more realistic
and are more accurate in self-appraisals than are "normal" people. We
tend to think we are better than we really are. Belief in God, and one's
connection to God is a sort of grandiose delusion that probably helps to
lift one's mood.
I could shut up about these things and let the religious people alone, but
they keep trying to dominate society, take over the government and such.
We have to do things to keep them under control!
Mike
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