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MY PERSONAL “road to Damascus” moment came through my TV set. I was 9 years old, and only mildly interested in science, when I caught a repeat of David Attenborough’s Life on Earth, explaining the basics of evolutionary theory. Perhaps it was the sheer timescales involved, but I remember feeling physically dizzy as my mind slowly expanded to encompass these new ideas.
Should we describe these kinds of epiphanies – born from science, rather than religion – as spiritual experiences? That is the conclusion of a new paper from Jesse Preston at the University of Warwick, UK, and her colleagues.
The idea…