Science According to Dave

Dave Clifford knows a lot about stuff and things. He also knows a lot about science. I hereby bestow upon you, Science According to Dave, a new new column in my new shitty blog that is based on the knowledge of Mr. Clifford.




There was a story run by NPR a few months back comparing evangelical religious Americans with religious groups in other developed nations. American's were the most religious (with the highest number of "born-again" Christians or evangelical Christians), yet at the same time the least knowledgable about other religions. Basically, the average religious American is blindly following something they know little about AND refusing to see any other way, often forcing their own beliefs onto others. Why would they do this?

Enter: SCIENCE

So it turns out that people have a serotonin release when they prove other people wrong based on ignoring their argument. Let's say I love Jesus and you say "X Y and Z are why Jesus is more complex than ABC" And I say "Well, ABC is all that really matters, and we can ignore XYZ because of D". I would ACTUALLY GET HIGH. Evangelical christians (and those with strong opinions) are essentially addicts. Your brain is set up in a manner to encourage you to reject arguments you disagree with. Think about it from a survival perspective, like poisonous plants for example. It's the same feeling that we get during exercise. Increase in heart rate (brought on by arguing) = release of endorphins = feeling of being high.


it's science.