Religious beliefs are considered a curable mental illness

[ccgr]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/05/30/l ... -be-cured/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The question is where will they stop?

[ArchAngel]

Guys, the cure really works. And it only hurts for a little bit...


I'm happy to see that the article and Dr. Taylor's quotes do make her sound a lot more level headed than the title of the article. She talks about how important it is to be wary of these sort of technologies.

Frankly, the very idea of this I find repulsive. To silence a voice is a terrible enough crime, how much worse the mind?

[ChickenSoup]

I have no words.

[brandon1984]

I understand what they want to do with this -- rehabbing jihadists, for example, would be nice. But, it's hard to see how a belief system in itself can be a mental illness. More specifically, it's hard to see that a different belief system could be caused by true brain pathology like schizophrenia or mania. And, this would be no small shortcoming. The National Institute of Mental Health recently withdrew support of consensus-derived diagnostic categories that have historically been important (the Diagnostic Statistic Manual which defines and categorizes mental illness). They are pushing strongly for more objective evidence in psychology and psychiatry. We're talking about all sorts of brain scans, blood tests, cereobrospinal fluid testing, etc. Will there be an objective brain scan or blood test that links fundamentalism to a pathologic process? Honestly, I'm doubtful.

[Sstavix]

This is science getting into very dangerous territory, but they view it as for the "common good." They often don't think that whatever the "common good" could be is subjective to whatever the dominant powers might be. Sure, some probably view it as a way to finally get rid of those "obsolete superstitions..." but what if the same ind of techniques and technology were being used by Islamic nations to force everyone into accepting Sharia law?

If pursued, it has the possibility of getting into national brainwashing. And that's a bad thing.

[delve]

Hm. Pretty light on both science and pathology there.

I can see a case for identifying the physical mechanisms of cult brainwashing and, as a hypothetical example, breaking a feedback loop to allow the subject to view reality more clearly. On the other hand physically changing someone's opinion via brain manipulation is a monstrous misuse of power.