There could be a straightforward medical explanation for at least three of the world's major religions. Moses, Mohammed, and Jesus all experienced revelations on mountains, but they were probably just suffering a form of altitude sickness, say a group of Swiss and Israeli neurologists, casting doubt in the process on the very existence of God.
All three felt, heard or saw a presence, experienced lights and felt afraid, say the brain scientists from Lausanne, Geneva and Jerusalem. But so have contemporary mountaineers who are more interested in ice picks and thermal undies than anything mystical - suggesting the dizzy heights may have the effect of turning ordinary mortals into prophets.
What? Do you mean that we have been subjected to these dangerous belief systems because some wandering hippies were suffering from lack of oxygen? Well isn't that special!
You know this idea might not be so far fetched. American Indians have for centuries sent their young men into the mountains to have "visions" before achieving manhood. You add a little peyote and you have a fairly profound life altering experience.
But the only one of the three we have any remotely reliable historical information about is Mohammed (and I don't know how well documented the mountain story specifically is, only that some details of Mohammed's biography are pretty well established). Admittedly, perhaps visions on mountains were attributed to Jesus and Moses on the basis of the authors of those accounts having had or heard about interesting experiences on mountains, but I have to say I can see why this hypothesis was proposed in a journal which "avoids the usual discouraging process of peer review."
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