Religion

At present the application of PCT to Religion is also at its early stages.  One exception is Lynndal Daniels’ blog on PCT and Buddhism, which links the Method of Levels, a psychotherapy that is a direct application of Perceptual Control Theory, with the reduction of suffering, a basic Buddhist concept.  Another is Richard Pfau’s paper on “Perceptual Control Theory’s Congruence with Religion”, available online at ResearchGate. That paper shows how Perceptual Control Theory can be used to explain why so many religious values and related teachings are so wise, given how our nervous systems function, the neural basis for religious concepts and practices such as sin, prayer, and other rituals, and how our nervous systems function to produce both religious and non-religious behavior.