[danielf]

Originally posted by Ramrod
you could use that as an arguament to question the validity of any 'religious experience'

I'd say that's a fair point, though 'validity' is an odd word in this context.

It is a thorny one if you are prepared to accept that we can ask God to manifest his presence on the whim of a medic/scientist, at a given time and place. If you feel that the above is either ludicrous or beneath God, then you must accept that the phenomenon is (at least sometimes) man made and not divinely inspired.

The same would apply if personal memories could be triggered through 'induction'. I.e. is there a 'religious centre', or is someone reminded of religious experiences, or are you messing about with a poorly understood 'emotional centre'.

Why? If you have stimulated in a subject a feeling/sensation that is also commonly associated with reported 'religious experiences', we can draw some sort of conclusions at least.

Let's just say that you'd have difficulty publishing these results in peer reviewed journals whith 'religious experiences' in the title of the paper.

and now I'm off to bed as well, goodnight all

Pleasant dreams