Inspiration in Science and Religion, Held jointly with Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, 25-27 September 2011.

The Forum's conference in 2011 was organised jointly with Cumberland Lodge and took place at the Lodge in Windsor Great Park. Its theme, ‘Inspiration in Science and Religion' was addressed in eight plenary sessions and one session of short paper presentations. Each talk was followed by a lively period of ‘question-and-answer'.

The conference got off to a flying start with a lecture about historical perspectives on inspiration in science and religion, followed by a session about Christian and Islamic perspectives on inspiration in religion. One speaker spoke about the huge growth and popularity of the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements both of which appear to incorporate a high level of inspired spiritual excitement. Pentecostalism sees inspiration as the human feeling of divine indwelling: possessed by God's spirit, a believer may speak in tongues, perform miracles or make prophecies. Emphasis on the personal experience of God distinguishes Pentecostalism from the more ritualistic and sacramental expressions of traditional Catholicism or Protestantism. Another speaker gave a polished account of inspirational influences in the development of Islam, pointing out that for some Muslims inspiration in terms of direct religious experience has also become more important in recent times. Thus, there has been a growth in individual engagement with the Koran, and a new sense of responsibility for one's personal salvation through one's actions on Earth. Both Pentecostalism and this Protestant-style Islam have been highly successful in reaching out to more people, in new ways, and were described as renewal movements. They are both modern in the sense that their growing popularity is fuelled by increased levels of literacy and education. However, several conference participants asked whether these versions of religion allow for inspiration from the beauty of art, architecture or hierarchical traditions? In reply it was conceded that modern Islam has sometimes attacked the appreciation of natural beauty, music or other more indirect sources of inspiration. The main forms of beauty such Muslims might focus on are the Koran, and the life of the Prophet; the inspiration of these may be narrow, but they are believed to be the means to rebuild society from the bottom. Similarly Pentecostals believe, if not exclusively, at least whole heartedly, in the divine inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible; the pattern of repentance, regeneration, water baptism and baptism with the Holy Spirit, as instigated by the Apostles of the early Church, still has the power to transform the lives of individuals. Whether this precludes inspiration from works of art was not explored at the conference, however it was agreed that for Pentecostals there is far less emphasis on finding inspiration from the sacraments or liturgical construction.

As the conference progressed, speakers discussed the role of inspiration in science from personal experience, factors that might predispose people to experience inspiration (and the broader impact of a moment of insight) and the brain mechanisms that might underlie inspirational thinking. Several speakers underlined the mysterious nature of inspiration by saying that the division within our brains between the left and right hemispheres actually serves to undercut the value of the right hemisphere's imaginative and holistic thinking; more emphasis is put on the analytic and reductive, which takes place in the left hemisphere. Yet both left and right hemispheres are necessary; inspiration requires both the effort by which the mind ‘aspires, grasps, struggles, wishes and craves' and the stillness of the mind which ‘fits him to receive it, when unsought.' Scientific truth comes as a welcome, yet mysterious arrival.

The joy of discovery should not cause us to down-play or ignore the years of hard work, learning and experimentation which underpin scientific research and other forms of human achievement. One speaker suggested that the ‘eureka' moment is really very rare indeed. Those exceptional individuals who have been truly creative - the likes of Beethoven, Einstein, Newton or Galileo - were often extremely hard to live with; not the sort of people you would want to be trapped with on a submarine! It was thought that creativity should not be seen as coming in a flash, but as being a much slower process of gradual building. Isaac Newton famously said ‘if I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants', and his own work would much later inform Einstein, whose theory of relativity reflected years of learning as much as an emotional moment of sudden insight. While scientists are inspired by the work of previous scientists, this does not mean, as Richard Dawkins claims, that scientists can and will provide all the answers. There is much that we will never know; human consciousness, parallel universes, evolution and genetics are all unimaginably complex areas. In the face of such profoundly difficult questions Dawkins' assertion that ‘science is the truth' seems to reveal the folly of misplaced arrogance. Ever since the Psalmists, writers and artists have suggested that there is a certain futility and ridiculousness in pretending we are greater than we are, even in the face of all our wonderful scientific discoveries and artistic creations. Science does not deconstruct the wonder of human life as much as it adds to it; the more we understand, the more there is to try to understand. One participant thought that currently neuroscience seems only to confirm what already appears to be common sense, rather than telling us anything radically new; the limits of scientific insight still seem clear in this sphere. The speaker responded by pointing out that neuroscience is profoundly important, for how else will we be able to understand how individuals learn, or help those suffering from mental disorders? However, the warning was given that the utilitarian benefit of successful scientific research should not blind us to the possibility of disastrous outcomes from unsuccessful experimentation, as may be the case with genetic engineering.

The link between creativity and inspiration was discussed in considerable depth and one talk profusely illustrated this relationship with short video clips including a particularly striking one showing a musician apparently suffering agonies during an inspired performance. Other speakers spoke of inspiration in relation to Shamanism and ‘educating for inspiration'.
It is probably true to say that more questions than answers appeared in the course of the conference discussions. It became clear from the outset that it is difficult to define what is meant by ‘inspiration' or ‘inspirational'. Inspiration/al is usually taken to mean a period of sudden artistic or scientific creativity, or, in biblical terms the divine origin of the bible, but the word is used much more loosely in modern English. For example, inspiration or inspirational has been used as the title of a number of music albums and films, inspirational music and inspirational fiction are particular genres, sportsmen and women are frequently said to produce ‘inspirational performances' and the term has even been applied to a bottle of scent. Religious inspiration may be even more difficult to relate to these definitions.

The best working definition of inspiration may be as a sudden insight or revelation which may be triggered in a variety of ways. The inspiration, however, does not produce a complete work of art or a new scientific concept in a flash, and the popular notion of instant inspiration or ‘eureka' moments is probably misleading. One speaker referred to a film about Beethoven which showed the great composer during a supposed period of what may be termed ‘composers' block' hearing someone bang on his door ‘da-da-da-DAH', and the next scene jumps to Beethoven conducting the opening bars of his Fifth Symphony. Whether or not he heard such a knock, the whole symphony would not have sprung immediately into his mind. A great deal of work would have been required to turn the initial idea into a finished work, and because Beethoven was a creative genius he was able to use a four-note phrase, which has been likened to fate knocking at the door, as the base for a great piece of music.

A considerable time may elapse between the initial insight or inspiration and the conversion of this insight into a great work of art or new scientific theory. Similarly, there may be a considerable period before an insight when the problem is being turned over in the mind of the subject and this may be part of the process which generates the insight. Just as Gary Player is reputed to have replied to a reporter commenting on his luck on the golf course, "the more I practice the luckier I get," one might say in relation to inspiration "the more I think the more insights I have." This might be taken to support the idea that it is possible to develop a capacity to receive inspiration.

It was suggested that inspiration can be found in many ways and in unlikely places. Perhaps for some this conference will turn out to have been a truly inspirational event.

Report written by Jeffrey Robinson (Science and Religion Forum) and Sandra Robinson (Cumberland Lodge). The conference speakers were Professor John Hedley Brooke, President, Science and Religion Forum; Professor William Kay, Professor of Theology, Glyndŵr University; Professor Michael Reiss, Professor of Science Education, Institute of Education; Professor Francis Robinson, Professor of the History of South Asia, Royal Holloway, University of London; Professor Pauline Rudd, Professor of Glycan Biology, University College, Dublin; Dr Christopher Southgate, Research Fellow, University of Exeter; Dr Fraser Watts, Reader in Theology and Science, Queen's College, University of Cambridge; Lord (Robert) Winston, Professor of Science & Society, Imperial College London; Professor Linda Woodhead, Director, AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme, Lancaster University. The conference was conducted under Chatham House rules.