Andrew Newberg studies the underlying neurobiology of religious belief. He has academic appointments in Radiology, Psychiatry, and Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and he's also the director of the university's Center for Spirituality and the Mind. He and his collaborator Mark Waldman have synthesized recent scientific discoveries on the biology of belief in an informative thought-provoking book, Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality, and Truth (2006). They've done a remarkable job of explaining complex research in non-technical terms, something that readers with a limited understanding of neurobiology will appreciate.

The book begins with an analysis of the concepts of reality and belief and their relationship to natural phenomena and human relationships. The systems that regulate the natural world were incomprehensible during most of human history. Humans could observe what occurred, but were typically clueless about the cause. Perceiving no natural agent, early humans tended to ascribe storms, harvests, and other incomprehensible events to magic and gods, and let it go at that.

For example, imagine if the Biblical account of Creation had included an extended technical explanation of genetic regulatory systems. How much simpler to suggest to pre-scientific readers "And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind..."

Although early humans lacked the technology to observe and understand causality in the natural world, they could understand interpersonal relationships. Various scriptures thus proposed useful moral and ethical belief systems. These continue to drive contemporary society, because human nature hasn't fundamentally changed much over human history.

Conversely, powerful research technologies have sparked scientific explanations of natural causality that differ considerably from ancient beliefs. These relatively new developments now dominate our current understanding of the natural world.

Still, ancient sacred and secular beliefs about natural causality persist, as do personal prejudices and superstitions. For example, a majority of American adults reject key principles of Darwinian biology, and gamblers with a university degree beseech their lucky charms and numbers. We've thus come to both trust and mistrust scientific discoveries and cultural beliefs.