Faith and Reason, True and Right?
While watching
Resetting Your Brain’s Dopamine Balance – Dr. Anna Lembke (on youtube)
I was reminded of two things. My chiropractor telling me that one can do the right things for the wrong reason, and how ancient practices and rituals can now be “explained scientifically”.
(see also Parkinsons #18)
Dr. Lembke’s lecture is full of information and quite enlightening. The way she describes the gremlins’ function in our brains, make the complex interaction of neurotransmitters easily understandable.
There can be an overstimulation or production of dopamine which can lead to dopamine addiction which can express itself in whatever we get addicted to. To restore the balance of “pain and pleasure” and a healthy production of dopamine, three factors stood out for me that would help overcome addiction:
30 days of complete abstinence
Acceptance of some pain through exercise
Being truthful by stopping to lie to yourself and others
This makes very much sense to me. However, in a way it is not anything new. What is new is the neuropsychological explanation. Her metaphorical gremlins are of great help.
The ancient practices and rituals I refer to are found in many religions and practiced in many forms. As a western theologian, I draw these obvious parallels based on my traditions:
30 days of abstinence – 40 days of fasting
Acceptance of pain – ascetic practices (time in the “desert”)
Stop lying – sacrament of confession
On the one hand, addictive behaviour is fed by availability of the addictive substance or activity. Because of new technologies, we are flooded with consumer goods and information that can drive us into addictions without us noticing it until it is too late. What before industrialisation was an occasional treat (releasing dopamine) is now available 24/7. Public or peer group pressure are also factors to push us into unwanted dependencies.
On the other hand, going to church and following the ritual practices embedded in the liturgy of the service and the liturgical year have diminished in inverse proportion to the availability to physical and digital consumer goods (dopamine producers). To me this is a simple (and perhaps also simplistic) explanation for the apparent explosion of addictive behaviours. It is simple for me, because I am experiencing the challenge of finding the balance or homeostasis, as Dr Lembke calls it, in producing enough dopamine to keep Parkinson’s at bay and avoiding dopamine addiction.
There is sometimes a trade off, which for some is acceptable, for others it is not. One of the consistently effective “methods” to get people off hard drugs is conversion to a faith. Unfortunately, quite often the kind of faith that does the trick is itself toxic because of the rigid fundamentalist approach it employs. There are enough stories of gurus and preachers who exploit people who turn to them for the help they promise. By them, “Truth” is being sold employing bold lies. This abuse is countered by “pure reason” represented by so-called new atheists. Both sides include a few “truths” in their approach. The use of such truths easily turns into abuse by turning them into absolute non-negotiables. I am skeptical about the existence of such things as absolute truths and pure reason (see also Musings #5, Thoughts on Ecumenism and reflections on the diversity in the four Gospels, #6 on my Theology page). There is clear evidence that placebo (faith) can play an essential role in a successful healing process. I consider it therefore as justifiable when people use the wrong reasons to do the right thing. However, I might add some conditions. The right thing, regardless of the correctness of the reasoning, has to be administered with integrity and in good faith.
In a less extreme (perhaps agnostic) way one may consider the liturgical and sacramental practices that help people in maintaining a neurochemical homeostasis to be a harmless wrong reason to achieve the right result.
Reflections 