Multiple Intelligences and faith

In my last entry on quantum faith, I briefly mentioned my fascination with the brain. I'm going to belabor it here because I believe it may help some folks as they study Christ and the Bible. I first started really studying the brain about 30 years ago. I felt that as a science teacher, I should know the science behind how we learn, so I could help my students learn.

There are two ways to affect learning: presynaptic and postsynaptic. Literally, before and after the synapse, the two main ways to remember something postsynaptically are by rote and by association. Rote is where you repeat the material. To move information from short-term to long-term memory, the magic number is 7. This means you must repeat the new information a total of seven times to move it into long-term memory. You all remember this approach from learning your ABCs and your times tables.A quicker approach to long-term memory is associational memory, where you attach new information to something you already know well.

But most of our learning is presynaptic. How do we get the info into the brain in the first place? For this, I like Howard Gardner of Harvard's theory of multiple intelligences. He started with 7 but is now up to 9 intelligences, and thanks to the imaging work of people like Robert Slywester, we now know where each is primarily located in the brain:

According to Wikipedia, several categories are considered when determining if something is an intelligence,

• biology (neuroscience and evolution)

• analysis (core operations and symbol systems)

• psychology (skill development, individual differences)

• psychometrics (psychological experiments and test evidence)

• potential for brain isolation by brain damage

• place in evolutionary history

• presence of core operations

• susceptibility to encoding (symbolic expression)

• a distinct developmental progression

• the existence of savants, prodigies, and other exceptional people

• support from experimental psychology

• support from psychometric findings

The locations briefly described are:

• Linguistic/Logical: Often linked to the left hemisphere and frontal/parietal networks.

• Spatial/Musical: Often associated with the right hemisphere.

• Bodily-Kinesthetic: Involves the motor cortex and cerebellum.

• Interpersonal/Intrapersonal: Involve broader networks, including frontal and temporal areas

Let's examine each type of presynaptic input

Bodily/kinesthetic, this is the kid who twitched during tests, the natural athlete, the kid who loved hands-on projects. There were probably some kinesthetic folks in the BIble> I'm thinking of David, especially, who is always dancing and lifting his hands. The best way for this person to learn scripture is to act or write it out.

Next is musical, this is the person who knows every lyric, who enjoys the meter of poetry. The kid who ALWAYS had a headphone on. This is the person on the worship team who should be singing scripture and singing prayers. The book of Psalms gives us many examples of prayers that were sung. This person could benefit from books, including the Bible on "tape".

Logical, mathematical is next, my personal weakest. This is the person who appreciates the sermon in outline form, which presents the information in sequence and hints at significance. They might be students of Biblical numerology, which studies the significance of numbers in the Bible 3, the number of God, 7, the number of completion, 40 for trials/probation, 12 for God's people, like the twelve tribes and the 12 apostles, etc....  Students of apologetics who make logical defenses of the faith would fall into this category as well.

Interpersonal is next. These folks are people smart, the popular people. They really need the church. In school, they loved group projects. These are your folks who grow leaps and bounds in small groups. Many evangelists have high interpersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal is the opposite of interpersonal. These are folks who need time to themselves. J

Jesus demonstrated this intelligence when He would withdraw after meeting with large crowds. This is the kid who asks Why do I need to know this?, who often keeps a journal

Linguistic is a word-smart person. This is your reader. This is your Christian, who examines lexicons for word origins and original meanings. They might know some Greek or Hebrew. They tend to excel at traditional school.

Spatial, this is your visual learner. When you looked at their school notes, there were often doodles in the margins. They never did a physics problem that didn't have a diagram. They are sensitive to color and often benefit from highlighter and flashcard systems that incorporate color. They also tend to love movies on the topic. These are the folks who can tell you about all the episodes of the Chosen. The benefit from mindmaps at sites like the bible project

Natural. These are the people who recognize patterns and benefit from time in nature. This definitely describes Jesus. In class, this was the kid who wanted to go through the whole handout before the lesson began. The kid who loved outdoor activities.

Existential are people who have a sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence, such as the meaning of life, why we die, and how did we get here?

There is another type of intelligence that can affect us: emotional intelligence. EQ allows you to recognize, understand, and manage emotions for better decisions, awareness, and relationships, essentially strengthening neural pathways between your "emotional" and "thinking" brains for healthier responses

Finally, there is one other type of intelligence: spiritual intelligence (SQ)(See blog #2 for more) EQ involves empathy and social skills, crucial for relationships, while SQ, integrates IQ (logic) and EQ to provide purpose, conscience, and navigate complex meaning/ethical issues, acting as a guide for the self and others, with high SQ enabling control over emotions. 

Faith and the brain are deeply connected with spiritual practices like prayer and meditation, activating specific neural networks (reward, attention, emotion centers like the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex) and altering brain activity, even decreasing activity in the parietal lobe for feelings of unity, suggesting belief isn't just abstract but has measurable neurological correlates, impacting self-perception and behavior. Neurotheology studies how brain structures and functions relate to religious experience, showing that belief can change brain patterns.

Your brain and faith

• Frontal Lobes/Prefrontal Cortex (PFC): Involved in focus, judgment, emotion regulation, and self-representation; activates during prayer, meditation, and moral reasoning.

• Parietal Lobe: Processes sensory input and spatial awareness; its decreased activity during intense experiences can lead to feelings of oneness or detachment from the body.

• Nucleus Accumbens: A reward center that lights up during spiritual experiences, similar to pleasure from food or drugs, creating feelings of euphoria,

• Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC): Helps with conflict monitoring and error detection; activates during belief-related tasks. 

How Faith Practices Affect the Brain

• Meditation & Prayer: Increase frontal lobe activity for focus, while potentially decreasing parietal lobe activity for a sense of self.

• Intense Spiritual States: Can trigger reward centers (nucleus accumbens) and reduce parietal lobe function, leading to feelings of transcendence.

What does all this mean?

• We are wired to believe.
• Belief changes our brains.
• Genetics and environment can determine how we best absorb new information
• Belief Systems can alter brain patterns.