《中英對照讀新聞》New study：Religion and science alter our brain 新研究：宗教與科學改變我們的大腦

◎陳正健

According to a study that was published in the PLOS ONE journal, religious and scientific belief alter our brain in different ways. Researchers at the Case Reserve Western University discovered that individuals who are more spiritual tend to show a much larger degree of empathy when interacting with other people. On the opposite side, science aficionados tend to adopt an analytical way of thinking.

根據一篇發表在「公共科學圖書館—綜合」（PLOS ONE）期刊的研究，宗教和科學信念各以不同方式，改變我們的大腦。凱斯西儲大學研究人員發現，在與他人互動時，重視精神層面的人更具同情心。相反的，科學愛好者更具分析思維。

請繼續往下閱讀...

Previous research in the religion versus science field showed that spiritual individuals tend to be less intelligent than those who preferred science. But things are not that simple. It is true that religion and science alter our brain, but they both have their advantages.

針對宗教與科學，先前的研究顯示，相對於偏好科學的人來說，重視靈性的人較不聰明。但事情可沒那麼簡單，事實上，宗教和科學都改變我們的大腦，但兩者各有其優點。

The study shows that the brains of religious people are less developed in the logical/critical areas but are more active in the social and emotional ones. This means that religious people are often more empathic and easy going than atheists. On the other hand, those who don’t believe in god are prone to analytic reasoning.

研究顯示，宗教信仰者腦部邏輯和批判的區塊較不靈光，但社交和情緒的區塊較活躍。這代表宗教信仰者比無神論者更具同情心，也較隨和。另一方面，無神論者更傾向分析性思考。

Western Reserve philosophy professor Tony Jack said pushing aside an atheistic world view enables you to delve deeper into the social or emotional side. And that may be why beliefs in the supernatural exist throughout the history of cultures.

凱斯西儲大學哲學系教授東尼．傑克表示，將無神論的世界觀擱置一旁，可讓你深究社交和情緒的那一面。而可能就是因為如此，超自然信仰長存於歷史文化之中。

新聞辭典

spiritual：形容詞，靈性的，精神上的。例句：Money has become the most important thing in many people’s lives, but spiritual life matters as well.（金錢已成為許多人生命中最重要的事情，但精神生活也很重要。）

atheists：名詞，無神論者。例句：Atheists believe that god or gods are man-made legends.（無神論者相信，神明是人為製造的傳說。）

supernatural：形容詞／名詞，超自然的／超自然物。例句：Some people claim they can attain supernatural powers by meditation.（某些人聲稱，他們可藉由冥想獲得超自然力量。）