Mysticism and Madness

Is the human brain the source of mystical experience? You may be surprised to learn scientists have been able to map the part of the brain that becomes active when individuals are in prayer, but that doesn't necessarily mean mysticism is just a hallucination or psychosis. In this episode, we discuss how the brain plays a role in mysticism and how modern psychology's penchant to pathologize mystical experiences as a mental disorder may be too quick to discredit real mysticism.

If you would like to order a copy of Dr. Carlos Eire's new book, "They Flew: A History of the Impossible," you can order a copy HERE (Yale University Press) or HERE (Amazon).