The God Gene
Molecular biologist Dean Hamer’s book, The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into Our Genes describes his research into possible genetic predisposition to spirituality. I have not read the book, but am referring to an article written about this topic in the October 25, 2004 issue of Time Magazine.
Hamer collected data in 1998 for research he was conducting on smoking and addiction. He decided to examine the data for possible spiritual-genetic connection as a side investigation to his smoking-addiction research. His was a limited genetic assessment, confined to nine specific genes that play a role in mood and motor control. He found one gene, VMAT2, was directily related to his volunteers scores on a characteristic called self-transcendence, which roughly translates to the ability to have a spiritual experience. Those with a particular nucleic acid in one spot on the gene ranked higher in self-transcendence than others.
Might this mean that some people are genetically coded to be further along spiritually than others? If you believe in the eternal soul, and in multiple physical manifestations of the soul, this might begin to explain how a particular physical incarnation starts its life with a foundation built from earlier life experiences. Clearly, some people are further along the road toward mastery than others–in every area of life, including spirituality. Storing this start-up information in DNA makes sense. This is similar to the data our computers store in boot files, bringing up each new computer session with “knowledge” of preferences and changes from the last session.
What do you think?
Jerrt