My feature article in Common Good: "The Science of the Brain and the State of the Soul!

Sharing about the feature article I wrote for Common Good

I had the delight to write a feature article for Common Good's print magazine about the intersection between neuroscience and theology titled "The Science of the Brain and the State of the Soul!"

In the article, I highlight the rise of the self-help culture and how this leads to an influx of popular science used as ‘proof’ for self-help tactics. However, popular science tends to be very high-level because people often do not want to take the time to understand the science. Popular science does not lend itself to deep understanding but is flashy and enticing and additionally does not take the time to address limitations of research.

This glossing over of scientific ideas occurs for really any area of science that is mentioned in popular culture. Anytime you read a headline about ‘scientists discovering the secret to X’ or ‘eat Y to live a long life’ are examples of this. This phenomenon is especially true for neurotheology which is the intersection between neuroscience and theology. Neurotheology has increasingly begun to permeate Christian circles because it attempts to explain religious and spiritual experiences with neuroscience research. The concept of neurotheology sounds attractive because it appeals to a desire to prove the Christian faith and integrate two fields. However, it often fails to consider the complexity of both fields which is a problem when neurotheology is presented as the end all be all that can help us understand ourselves and God. Ultimately, "there is no secret knowledge about the brain that humans can find that will unlock a new plane of cognition and supersede the wisdom that comes from God."

In the piece, I also briefly touch on the distrust that often occurs between science and religion and how it does not seem to apply to Christians discussing neuroscience. I close the article by discussing some red flags for reading popular science and how to know if an author/scientist is a good steward of their expertise. Hopefully, the article is accessible to read by clicking the link above - though sometimes Common Good will paywall articles when you have read a few of their articles.

While I write all the time for work as I communicate neurology research to doctors and patients, it is not the type of writing I did in college. As an English major, I loved writing persuasive essays and research papers where I had to formulate my own arguments to support ideas and convince a professor about my theories. Writing this piece made me realize how much I miss being given a topic to research and told to run with it. This writing project reminded me so much of an end of term paper.

The feature article was a true delight to work on and also a lot of work as it has been in process since July! I spent countless hours reading and researching in order to write it and am so excited for others to be able to read it. Some of the books I consulted to write the book include God, Technology, and the Christian Life by Tony Reinke, Celebrities for Jesus by Katelyn Beaty, The Soul of Science by Charles Thaxton and Nancy Pearcy and others.

Ultimately, I hope that those reading this article gain an appreciation for the complexity of science and the nuance required to discern if a claim in popular media is too strong. One of my joys in life is educating and communicating about science and I especially see the need for this in Christian spaces and in discussions about neuroscience.