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The Problem with Pew’s Science & Religion Poll

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

To get good answers, you have to ask good questions. “Generally, do you think science and religion are often in conflict?” is not a very helpful question. It’s vague from start to finish. Religion could refer to the beliefs and practices of evangelical Protestants, Jesuits, secular Jews, or Theravada Buddhists—or even some imagined mashup of all global faiths. Science is fuzzy, too. It refers to a wide range of disciplines (e.g. astronomy, botany…

Meditation is the Multi-Tasker’s Answer

By Andrew Aghapour

Do you feel like the “before” person in a 5-Hour Energy commercial? A research report from the University of Washington suggests that meditation may offer some relief, by helping to improve memory, reduce stress, and aid in multi-tasking (full text here). This study is the latest in a series linking various meditation techniques to health benefits, such as improved cognitive fluidity, increased density in the part of the brain associated with sel…

What Republicans Mean When They Compare Climate Change to Religion

By Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson

Last week, Texas Republican Lamar Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal comparing climate change to religion. Smith argues that the “facts alone,” and not preordained ideological commitments, should inform U.S. climate policy. We need “open debate and critical thinking,” says Smith, which are fundamental to the scientific process and democratic deliberation. Smith could…

Will Religion Solve the Obesity Crisis?

By Andrew Aghapour

As obesity quickly becomes the central health concern of America today (affecting more than one-third of U.S. adults), it is no surprise that religion has entered the national dialogue as a possible site for fighting the obesity epidemic. What may surprise you is where we’re looking: the Book of Daniel and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The Book of Daniel is the inspiration for Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren’s new initiative. Warren…

The Cubit Vs. “New Age Colbert,” JP Sears

By The Editors

…headband, with a flower tucked into his chest-length red hair. Ultra Spiritual JP delivers earnest, convoluted advice on everything from vegetarianism to ayahuasca to the psychology of the selfie, all in pitch-perfect deadpan. In March, Cubit co-editor Andrew Aghapour interviewed Sears, both in and out of character, at Sears’ Charleston, S.C., home. Last week, Andrew traveled back to Charleston, this time to collaborate with Sears on his latest vi…

Is the Internet the End of Religion?

By Andrew Aghapour

Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, half of the “Four Horsemen of New Atheism,” recently indulged an Oxford audience with an hour-long conversation about the “evolution” of religion. The two are among the most outspoken intellectuals currently arguing that religions are more or less evolving things that “trick” adherents into beliefs for their own selfish purposes. Dawkins, a prominent biologist and author of The God Delusion, coined the word “me…

Meet the “New Age” Stephen Colbert

By Andrew Aghapour

In the kitchen of his Charleston, S.C. home, wearing a flower in his hair, life coach and entrepreneur JP Sears explains, in a recent video, that, “being gluten intolerant used to be limited only to those who are actually intolerant to gluten,” but that now anyone can try it as long as they have a “ravenous appetite for impossible standards and dogmatic feelings of victimization.” When I first watched “How to Become Gluten Intolerant,” just a day…

The Problem with AMC’s Sci-Fi Hit Humans

By Andrew Aghapour

The following essay contains some minor spoilers. – eds. Imagine a world where robots look, act, and function like human beings, minus consciousness or free will. They’ve been programmed to take over sophisticated tasks, like housekeeping, manual labor, medical care and, yes, sex. Imagine the human equivalent of a Roomba. This is the world depicted in AMC’s Humans, which recently wrapped up its first season. Set in a “parallel present” where high…

Steve Jobs Reincarnated as Divine Half-Yak

By Andrew Aghapour

For Apple fans still recovering from Steve Jobs’ untimely death last year, there is some hope yet. According to Phra Thepyanmahamuni, the abbot of the Wat Phra Dhammakaya in Thailand, Jobs was reincarnated into a divinity “of middle rank – half a Witthayathorn, half yak.” The Thai Buddhist New Religious Movement posted a three-part essay on their website describing the life, death, and reincarnation of Jobs, claiming that he also invented the win…

The Technological Apocalypse is Coming (Straight to DVD)

By Andrew Aghapour

Over the last 15 years a brilliant and charismatic self-made man has been campaigning across the United States, describing a near-future event that will deliver human salvation, immortality, and unlimited creative potential. After this event, he claims, the trappings of earthly life will no longer plague us: we will no longer age or get sick; we will be able to create our own worlds to our exact preferences; and we will no longer be restricted to…