It seems a little silly to say “I believe these experiences exist”; it almost sounds like you’re trying to imply that some greater force exists. It’s reminiscent of those people that say “well, I don’t believe in God, but there has to be something” as if they’d just uttered a profound statement.
I’m not implying anything greater than the evolutionary forces that gave us our other quirks. The statement “well, I don’t believe in God, but there has to be something” may not be profound, but it’s mostly accurate. The “something” is most likely specific neural structures that cause religious experiences in people under the right conditions.
To further clarify, I think that some religious experiences are really experienced (e.g. they are not just false memories of experiences that didn’t happen) in the human brain and are not conscious self-delusion or self-deception. I think that all religious experiences have natural explanations that don’t require the participation of any agent more complex than a standard human.
I’m not implying anything greater than the evolutionary forces that gave us our other quirks. The statement “well, I don’t believe in God, but there has to be something” may not be profound, but it’s mostly accurate. The “something” is most likely specific neural structures that cause religious experiences in people under the right conditions.
To further clarify, I think that some religious experiences are really experienced (e.g. they are not just false memories of experiences that didn’t happen) in the human brain and are not conscious self-delusion or self-deception. I think that all religious experiences have natural explanations that don’t require the participation of any agent more complex than a standard human.