Neuroscience and religion | W.R. Klemm | TEDxTAMU

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. While today's major religions have largely remained unchanged for two millennia, science has exponentially expanded. Many argue that in the 21st century, the two are as separate as possible. However in his exciting talk, Dr. Klemm argues that neuroscience and religion can and should inform each other.

W. R. (Billl) Klemm is a neuroscientist with a large number of research publications and substantial international recognition of his research. Trained in fundamental biology and raised in Christian tradition, he is well aware of the clash between the scientific principles of evolution and certain religious doctrines. And, as a neuroscientist, he also sees a growing clash over the scientific view that mind comes from brain and the religious view of an immortal soul. It would seem that on both fronts, religion is fighting a losing battle. There is no doubt that mind clearly resides in the brain. Unresolved is the question of whether the brain is the only place mind exists.
Today's major religions arose from the Middle East and Asia and are largely unchanged from their primitive state more than two millennia ago. None of these have adequately accommodated science. We still quibble over evolution. How will we acquire the boldness and insight to accommodate the science of mind with religion? Many people do not think accommodation is possible, yet Dr. Klemm argues that neuroscience and religion can and should inform each other. After all, religious beliefs are constructed from what brains think. There is room in this universe for both. Indeed, Klemm believes that science and what we call spirituality are what the universe is all about.

In recent years, Dr. Klemm has been pondering such things. Some of his colleagues have called him a "Renaissance man" because his thinking about neuroscience extends into other fields such as medicine, psychology, education, law, social and political interactions, as well as religion. In the Fall of 2013, he took the unprecedented leap of creating a college course at Texas A&M University in Neuroscience and Religion, which he plans to continue and eventually hopes to take on-line to a mass audience.

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