VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Graham|DATE|1373627872|CONTENT|Amazing how someone like Sacks will quote scientific research when it suits them.  He tries to spin it, that religious observances are positive because of all the &#039;thanksgiving&#039; involved.  In my experience what they are thanking their gods for is deliverance from some horrible trap their god led them into in the first place- not quite as positive as Sacks tries to make out.

Also bizarre to have a religious leader drooling over the possibility of extending one&#039;s life.  If he truly, deeply and viscerally believed the guff he spouts would he not see an extended life-span as putting more distance between him and paradise?  Can he not see the paradox there?  Or does some part of him realise that the certainty of this life is worth having despite some dubious promise of a life &#039;beyond&#039; in paradise?

If he&#039;s really sold on the idea of research why doesn&#039;t he quote the research that&#039;s been done into prayer rather than trying to extrapolate from research on optimism v pessimism?  Possibly because  properly validated research shows no effect beyond placebo and in some cases shows a negative effect.  Let&#039;s face it if you are seriously ill in hospital and someone informs you that everyone is praying for you then you are very likely to take that as an indication you must be on death&#039;s door.
[url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/04/060403133554.htm]&quot;Patients who knew that others were praying for them fared worse...&quot;[/url]

I particularly like the approach Galton took back in 1872.  He reasoned that if prayer were effective then those people prayed for by name on a weekly basis (ie members of the royal families of Europe, as was the custom back then) should live longer than fellow aristocrats.  A statistical analysis showed that &#039;prayed for&#039; royals lived on average for 64.04 years.  Not-specifically-prayed-for members of the aristocracy lived for an average of 67.31 years.  [url=http://galton.org/essays/1870-1879/galton-1872-fortnightly-review-efficacy-prayer.html]Galton&#039;s essay.[/url] 

If I&#039;m ever seriously ill please do not let anyone tell me they are praying for me!!

[url=http://billpeddie.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/prayer.png]And finally...[/url]|IP-ADDRESS|95.149.10.62|MODERATIONFLAG|