Persinger's God helmet
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain Persinger’s God helmet experiment and evaluate its implications for the existence of God.
Key learning points
- The God helmet is an experiment designed to see if feelings of religious experience can be induced.
- In the experiment, the temporal lobe is stimulated based on testimony of those with temporal lobe epilepsy.
- The stimulation brought about effects similar to those of people claiming a religious experience.
- Some claim this experiment proves God does not exist, or at least that religious experience is not genuine.
- Others argue that a creator God designed the human brain to include the temporal lobe as a channel of communication.
Keywords
Evidence - facts or information that supports an idea
God helmet - a device that stimulates the temporal lobes with electromagnetic fields to induce religious experiences
Michael Persinger - a neuroscientist known for developing the God helmet to study the brain's role in religious experiences
Scepticism - a philosophical tool that encourages questioning and doubting things to ensure we have good evidence before believing them
Common misconception
The God helmet experiment has been reliably replicated and proves that religious experiences are just caused by brain stimulation.
In reality, the experiment has not been consistently replicated, and the results have been debated.
Teacher tip
For additional material A, encourage discussion about how points in the story could be understood differently. Task B part 2 could be used as an extended writing activity or a cloze task (using the sample answer with gaps for students). Teachers could search online for a picture of the God helmet.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.A experience is a personal feeling or moment when someone believes they connect with a higher power or God.
Q2.Logic is a tool used in to evaluate arguments and assess conclusions about religious experience.
Q3.What methods did William James use to investigate religious experiences?
Q4.What is neuroscience?
Q5.The temporal lobe is part of the .
Q6.How could religious experiences be used to support the existence of God?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What does scepticism encourage us to do?
Q2.How did Michael Persinger approach the study of religious experiences?
Q3.The God Helmet experiment used lobe stimulation to create religious-like experiences.
Q4.Which of the following does Persinger’s experiment suggest about religious experiences?
Q5.Why might some argue that Persinger's experiment does not disprove the existence of God?
Q6.Which of the following is a key criticism of Persinger's God helmet experiment?
To help you plan your 8 religious education lesson on: Persinger's God helmet, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 religious education lesson on: Persinger's God helmet, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 religious education lessons from the Knowing God: does religious experience prove God exists? unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.