Calvin Mercer

Religious Mysticism and gender orientation

This study of 411 undergraduates utilized the short form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and a modified version of the Hood Mysticism Scale (M-scale) to examine the relationship of gender orientation with mystical experience. The hypothesis - that participants classified on the BSRI as feminine or androgynous each would score significantly higher on mysticism than persons classified as masculine - was confirmed. The suggestion is made that persons who score high on mysticism are persons who have developed a feminine self-schema cognitive structure through which they process data in a way that emphasizes the unity of and identification with reality. The finding can be interpreted as lending support to theorists who argue for a constructivist understanding of the mystical experience.

THE HOOD MYSTICISM SCALE: DOES THE PRESENCE OF A NEUTRAL RESPONSE-ITEM AFFECT RESPONSE STYLE

The widely used Hood Mysticism Scale (1975) was administered to one of two groups of college students in its original version and a modified version without the option of responding with “?” to an item. Scoring of the scale assigns an intermediate value to the “?” response, suggesting this response implies a meaning on the item somewhere between “probably true” and “probably not true.” Omitting this response option requires respondents to make a forced-choice answer, either to agree or to disagree with a statement and eliminates the middle ground. It was hypothesized that, if the response reflects a neutral attitude, then randomly selected groups administered the scale with or without the option should show no difference in overall means. An intact group of 23 advanced psychology students achieved a mean of 114.4 (SD = 20.4) on the original mysticism scale, while 25 advanced psychology students in a second intact group had a mean of 113.3 (SD = 17.1) on the modified version. This difference was not significant and supported the hypothesis that the scales were equivalent. Advantages of the modification and implications for interpretation of the “?” response are discussed.

A Theological Assessment of Whole Brain Emulation: On the Path to Superintelligence

Whole brain emulation, also called mind copying or mind uploading, is one of the several possible paths to superintelligence, which is machine intelligence that surpasses general human intelligence. This chapter examines whole brain emulation with regard to embodiment and personal identity. It contends that uploading can meet the embodiment requirement of Christian theology through a creative revisioning of body in light of developments in robotics and tissue engineering. This chapter demonstrates that uploading does not preserve personal identity according to the philosophical mental states theory, but the survival theory of David Parfitt does provide adequate philosophical grounding for one uploading scenario. Since uploading will likely evolve into superintelligent machines, the chapter calls for an “AI-Theology” conversation to address the theological significance of superintelligence and sketches out some possible avenues forward.

Coming into Focus: An Introduction to the Collection

This chapter summarizes each of the 19 original chapters in this collection, entitled Religion and Human Enhancement: Death, Values, and Morality and appearing in the series Palgrave Studies in the Future of Humanity and Its Successors. The chapter provides a brief and informal sketch of scholars—with regard to the challenge of incorporating diverse voices—who are working on the general topic of human enhancement. The chapters are surveyed inside the framework of the four sections of the volume: “‘Common Ground’ between Transhumanism and Religion,” “Desires and Values,” “Moral Bioenhancement,” and “Longing for Immortality: Meanings of Death.”