Is it reasonable to keep an open mind about existence of god(s)?

Originally Posted by wheels5894

On the other hand, a researcher in the USA has been applying a magnetic field to people using a modified crash helmet and produced all sorts of religious type experiences just by playing with the magnetic field - a result that suggests that a deity need not exist for people to feel his presence and to hear his voice.

Put plainly, at present there is not the slightest reason to accept that there is any sort of deity out there and that all there is is the belief of theists who would like there to be such a being. Do you know of any other evidence for the supernatural? If so tell us about it.

That sounds like Michael Persinger you're talking about. He teaches at Laurentian University in Sudbury (not far from where I live). He calls his device "the God helmet" because it has the effect of making people feel like they 'sense a presense' providing another possible mundane explanation for transcendent experiences.

That's the one! I couldn't think of it this morning. It doesn't prove anything by itself but it does leave one wondering about the things people claim to experience. I think it pushes the difficulty of establishing the existence of a god a bit further away. Of course it would be open to a researcher to measure the magnetic field around a subject when they pray / meditate to see if any messages from a god they receive might come by small variations in the magnetic field but I doubt if any believer would risk it!

If it's possible to initiate transcendent-like experiences with electromagnetic fields then I think that simply indicates that we are capable of transcendent-like experiences that don't appear to be associated with actual transcendent/spiritual/supernatural beings. It's really only more interesting than it is indicative of anything, in my opinion.

I think we are all capable of experiencing strange or alien-feeling states of mind under stressful or unusual circumstances. I can think of occasions in my life where I experienced very strong emotions or strange thinking patterns that seemed completely out of character. I can understand why it might seem almost as if an outside influence was trying to manipulate or impede one's reasoning ability. I don't think we need to invoke spirits or demons to accept that sometimes people have breakdowns or approach the brink of a mental breakdown but manage to 'snap out of it'.

I guess it all comes back to the question of just what it takes to convince one that God is trying to tell them something. I would think it depends on the person. Some people are more susceptible to breakdowns than others, some are more easily scammed than others, some are more suggestible than others. I don't think this has a great deal to do with intelligence, either. In fact, con artists and magicians say that intelligent, well educated people are often the easiest to fool, possibly because they are over-confident in their own faculties and reasoning abilities.