Brian S. Gillis ’07, however, had the opposite reaction.

Calling himself a “struggling Christian,” he said he attended this lecture purely on a whim and was excited to see that the topic of the speech would be the “God module.”

He said he was hoping to have the question “Is God a fabrication of my life?” answered.

But, if anything, Gillis said Pinker’s speech affirmed his faith.

“I’m not sure if Pinker’s ever been religious, but there were a lot of holes in his reasoning,” he said, specifically mentioning Pinker’s failure to address “books upon books of empirical evidence in support of particular religions.”

But Gillis signed up for the Secular Society’s e-mail list and expressed interest in further discussion with Pinker.

Others shared his sentiment.

“I’ve always been fascinated by what makes people believe so strongly in something that can’t be proven,” said Megan E. Camm ’07. “[Pinker] provided compelling refutations of some of the most salient issues.”