# Religious Experiences are not Hallucinations **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 5, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-experiences-are-not-hallucinations/505389 "2009-08-05T04:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![pfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@pfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pfish)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-experiences-are-not-hallucinations/505389/221 "2010-01-16T19:38:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > It’s more like a gallon of gas. OK, I understand & will sign off. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-experiences-are-not-hallucinations/505389/222 "2010-01-16T19:44:04Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Seriously ITC, every couple weeks you post one of these threads with no evidence and get proven wrong every fucking time. C’mon, could you at least bring your A game? > > There is no evidence that “religious experiences” are anything but wishful thinking or manifest self delusion. People really don’t want to end when they die or need to feel that they have an externally imposed purpose. And some people need that so much they pretend to have god visions. It’s pathetic, but it’s perfectly understandable. Just because you want something to be true does not increase the chances of it being true. > > Dawkins is correct and you are incorrect. I was going to say the same thing. Dude…give it up. You can believe whatever you want to believe, but there is no proof that your belief is founded in reality. Millions before you have tried and failed. Give it up. ---
**Author:** ![pfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@pfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pfish)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-experiences-are-not-hallucinations/505389/223 "2010-01-16T19:50:13Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I was going to say the same thing. Dude…give it up. You can believe whatever you want to believe, but there is no proof that your belief is founded in reality. Millions before you have tried and failed. Give it up. !!! The world is divided Two teams exist Both teams contest… If one team wins, it does not mean that their cause is right! Millions or zillions, belief and reality are two different things buddy! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-experiences-are-not-hallucinations/505389/224 "2010-01-16T19:56:44Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I was going to say the same thing. Dude…give it up. You can believe whatever you want to believe, but there is no proof that your belief is founded in reality. Millions before you have tried and failed. Give it up. Indeed. Until someone can measure and record the waves coming from God–showing that this is indeed what we are seeing–there’s no reason to think that there isn’t a more mundane explanation, of which there are several dozen if not several hundred possibilities, each one of which must first be scratched off before even beginning to consider spiritual or alien sources. ---
**Author:** ![pfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@pfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pfish)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-experiences-are-not-hallucinations/505389/225 "2010-01-16T20:00:36Z")
Yeah, until it can be reproduced, skeptics will remain. (I hate this part!) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-experiences-are-not-hallucinations/505389/226 "2010-01-16T20:17:31Z")
> [@pfish](#): > > Yeah, until it can be reproduced, skeptics will remain. (I hate this part!) More importantly, it can be reproduced. People just don’t want to admit that their own brain is causing the effect. Knowing though that the brain can cause such effects, it’s a fairly impossible task to show that it could be any outside force causing it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religious-experiences-are-not-hallucinations/505389.md?page=11)