God in the Frontier (Episode 11) - Sifting Through The Burned Over District (Part 3)
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Why did new religions pop up so frequently in the Burned-Over District of New York during the 19th century? Did God decide it was special or was there something special about the area that made it prone to New Religious Movements. In this episode we describe some of the science behind New Religious Movements whether they're from the 19th century or today. We also explore in what ways faith provides advantages for individuals, particularly in the area of resiliency. Finally, we get deep inside the human brain to understand the psychology of faith. Pattern recognition and our hard-wired ability to search for meaning within those patterns has our brain pull some pretty amazing tricks on ourselves. (11/12)
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