Schinckel.net

I’m partway through the 24/9/2005 edition of ABC Radio National’s Podcast of their program All In The Mind. The program description is:

SUMMARY: Cotard’s syndrome is the belief that you have died, and for sufferers it is a terrifying state. Delusions can take many forms, from widespread paranoia to a specific and singular delusion - you might think an impostor has replaced your spouse. These misbeliefs are commonly associated with schizophrenia, but they can also occur in people with brain injuries, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease and dementia. The Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science is seeking to explain delusions by developing a model of how we all come to accept or reject beliefs. We see how this research is progressing.

I don’t know that much about Schizophrenia, but early in the program they are talking about how people with this condition cannot (bear to?) look at faces of people who are angry or fearful. A little later on, the following phrase is used:

[Delusion is] a strongly held belief for which there isn’t any evidence.

I’m not going to make a further statement as to the similarity between this and religion. I’ll let you decide. Flames cheerfully accepted.