The God Gene

[Harpo]

Are we born with a predisposition to spirituality? 

This is a summary from Wikipedia:
The God gene hypothesis proposes that human beings inherit a set of genes that predisposes them to believe in a higher power. The idea has been postulated by geneticist Dean Hamer, the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the U.S. National Cancer Institute, who has written a book on the subject titled, The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into our Genes.

The God gene hypothesis is based on a combination of behavioral genetic, neurobiological and psychological studies. The major arguments of the theory are: (1) spirituality can be quantified by psychometric measurements; (2) the underlying tendency to spirituality is partially heritable; (3) part of this heritability can be attributed to the gene VMAT2[1]; (4) this gene acts by altering monoamine levels; and (5) spirituality arises in a population because spiritual individuals are favored by natural selection. However, a number of scientists and researchers are highly critical of this theory; Carl Zimmer, writing in Scientific American, questions why "Hamer rushed into print with this book before publishing his results in a credible scientific journal."[2] In his book, Hamer backs away from the title and main hypotheses by saying "Just because spirituality is partly genetic doesn't mean it is hardwired."[3]

I think it's possible, though maybe it's an innate need to be taken care of.

[david johnson]

We are spirits that have bodies for awhile

dj

[DavidW]

That sounds like sensationalism instead of science.  Whenever you skip peer reviewed journal publication you're venturing into Newmanesque territory.

[Joe_Campbell]

That sounds like sensationalism instead of science.  Whenever you skip peer reviewed journal publication you're venturing into Newmanesque territory.

I wonder what the research would have to say about those who started one way and jumped the fence later in life. Suppressed genes?

[DavidW]

I wonder what the research would have to say about those who started one way and jumped the fence later in life. Suppressed genes?

  Good one.

[knight66]

Temporarily recessed.

Mike

[drogulus]

    Does spirituality have a material explanation? Yes, that's what an explanation is. And if people come around to my view that natural explanation is the way to go, I can't complain, right? Of course I can!

   I don't see a definition of spirituality here. What about peope who don't use the terminology, who call it something else? Are you not spiritual if you think a soul can be defined without resort to supernatural phenomena? Should we only try to explain the spiritual phenomena of people who don't accept explanations? I appreciate irony but this is a little over the top.  

   By my reckoning the principled materialism of many scientists is a kind of spirituality, a belief in the ultimate comprehesibility of the Universe. Einstein thought so, too. Warranted belief is not unrelated to the unwarranted kind. It is opposed to the lack of warrant, not the desire for answers. They have the same roots in human nature, though the rational version looks like a mutant adaptation of an older form.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
   Maybe we are hardwired for science and most people are failures*, so all the bogus stuff is just compensation. The double bookkeepers like Francis Collins are just insecure, lacking the courage of their operational conviction and hedging their bet with the other one. If the real plane doesn't land maybe the cargo cult one will. When I was a kid I built a play airport in my yard. Let me tell you, it's not easy to grow up.  

   _{* I thought I'd try a reversal on the usual horeseshit we get from believers about how lacking in belever goodness we are so we can't see blah blah, etc. It looks like mine isn't much better.}

[The new erato]

In thought there was yet another God, named Gene. As if we hadn't enough. Happily, I misunderstood.

[Harpo]

   Does spirituality have a material explanation? Yes, that's what an explanation is. And if people come around to my view that natural explanation is the way to go, I can't complain, right? Of course I can!

   I don't see a definition of spirituality here. What about peope who don't use the terminology, who call it something else? Are you not spiritual if you think a soul can be defined without resort to supernatural phenomena? Should we only try to explain the spiritual phenomena of people who don't accept explanations? I appreciate irony but this is a little over the top.  

   By my reckoning the principled materialism of many scientists is a kind of spirituality, a belief in the ultimate comprehesibility of the Universe. Einstein thought so, too. Warranted belief is not unrelated to the unwarranted kind. It is opposed to the lack of warrant, not the desire for answers. They have the same roots in human nature, though the rational version looks like a mutant adaptation of an older form.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
   Maybe we are hardwired for science and most people are failures*, so all the bogus stuff is just compensation. The double bookkeepers like Francis Collins are just insecure, lacking the courage of their operational conviction and hedging their bet with the other one. If the real plane doesn't land maybe the cargo cult one will. When I was a kid I built a play airport in my yard. Let me tell you, it's not easy to grow up.  

   _{* I thought I'd try a reversal on the usual horeseshit we get from believers about how lacking in belever goodness we are so we can't see blah blah, etc. It looks like mine isn't much better.}

The "God gene" concept initially appealed to me because it might explain how otherwise rational people believed in the literalness of the Bible, heaven, etc.  But, being more of a psychology person, I think that religiosity is more likely based on fear of death, need to be part of something bigger, and childhood conditioning (what a parent tell me must be true). Some things, such as soul or spirit, may exist but can't be rationally explained, maybe just felt.