Some scientists are planning to boycott the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in November if the Dalai Lama is allowed to speak. Seems like a pretty extreme reaction to me. Also, there’s mention of an interesting study further down in the article:
The research peaked in November last year when a team led by Richard Davidson, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, published research in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that suggested networks of brain cells were better coordinated in people who were trained in meditation.
Full Story: Guardian: Plan for Dalai Lama lecture angers neuroscientists
July 27, 2005 at 6:30 pm
I suppose they all recently read “The Report of Germany’s Institute for Youth and Society on TM” (available at http://www.trancenet.org/research/, link stolen from GenSit).
July 27, 2005 at 10:58 pm
That study only refers specifically to Trancendental Meditation. For an anti-TM organization, TranceNet seems awfully sympathetic to TM:
“We believe that the majority of people who practice TM will find that they enjoy it. We believe it is as good as similar techniques taught by Hindus, Christians, Muslims, hypnotherapists, and others. We do, however, think there is evidence that it is either not effective, not enjoyable, or downright dangerous for a certain percentage of the population, on the order of 10% to 20%. But the bottom line is if you enjoy Transcendental Meditation — and the religious aspects or repressive policies of the TM movement do not conflict with your beliefs — why not do it?”
BTW, Germany?s Institute for Youth and Society is a conservative Christian think tank that has also “proved” that homosexuality is a disease.