Soul & Brain 3
Reading articles like the “Goldilocks Universe” or “Soul & Brain” on my “Explore the Universe” web page might seem that there is a Theistic (Faith in God) theme to my presentations. I will be the first to admit that some people, looking at the very same scientific data would not interpreted it as compelling evidence of God’s authorship of our Universe or God’s presence in our reality.
Some scientists whose work I admire, study and present throughout my web pages are atheists and have publicly shared their atheist philosophy. Also some of my friends and acquaintances are atheists that provide a challenging perspective to my personal faith. Among them a brilliant Physicist, whose lectures were the inspiration for the Goldilocks Universe articles.
During one particular lecture, this Physicist presented a sample of what he referred to as the “Many Miracles” that make it possible for all of us to be here. Right now, I will only mention one of those “Miracles”. We know from an early age that our world is made up of solids, liquids, and gases (there is also plasma but I not going there right now). While we take this for granted, it is vital for our very existence that the “physical property of matter allows for the coexistence of solids, liquids, and gases”. Let’s think about it! We depend on oxygen as a gas to breath, as a liquid in water to live, and as a mineral solid in our bones to function. This is a property of matter that is just there without a scientific explanation and it is essential for our existence.
Later in the “Soul & Brain” series, I will try to make a fair presentation of the atheists perspective on God followed by a personal response.
In the previous “Soul & Brain” article, I presented how our ancestors search for the sacred and supernatural triggered the development and evolution of the human brain’s complexity. Our complex brain makes us Human and it was wired from the very beginning to recognize and seek God.
If we are so wired and our ancestors believed in the spiritual life, why do some people today not believe in a God, a Soul, or a Spiritual Life? In looking at the numbers, statistics show that only about 20% of the world population and only about 15% of the US populations do not believe in God or a spiritual life, meaning that a majority of the world population does believe in God or a spiritual life.
For those that do not believe in the spiritual realm, the reasons are very complex and varied. But scientific research in studying the difference between believers and non-believers is discovering there is a structural and functional difference between the brains of both groups. In “Soul & Brain 3” we are going to focus on one of the studies: “The God Gene”
In this study, both believers and non-believers were given photographs that were distorted to look like Rorschach tests (inkblots). The believers identified all the elements in the photographs that were there plus a few elements that were not there. The non-believers did not identify any elements that were not there, but they also missed some of the elements that were actually there.
The next step was to give a Dopamine drug to the non-believers. Dopamine is a brain neurotransmitter that is involved in our perception of reality, our emotional responses, and proper movement and behavior. After administering the drug, the non-believers were given the same photographs and the results were similar to the believers.
In parallel with this study was the research of Dr. Dean Hamer a behavioral geneticist at the National Institute of Health. While studying how our DNA affects personality, he made the following discovery. People that had feelings of self-transcendence also had in their DNA (from blood samples) a gene that produces the VMAT 2 receptor, a brain neurotransmitter that regulates the concentration of dopamine and serotonin. Dr. Hamer named the gene “The God Gene”.
Self-transcendence means a feeling that there is more to our reality than the material world and self. For many it means a spiritual life or a connectedness to God.
Dr. Hamer goes on to explain that this God Gene accounts for about 10% influence on a person’s faith in God, other factors being cultural traditions, experiences, personality traits, and personal choices. While he states that this gene does not prove God’s existence, it does demonstrate God’s ingenuity in writing this gene into our DNA. Another example of how human beings are wired to seek and find God.
Reading articles like the “Goldilocks Universe” or “Soul & Brain” on my “Explore the Universe” web page might seem that there is a Theistic (Faith in God) theme to my presentations. I will be the first to admit that some people, looking at the very same scientific data would not interpreted it as compelling evidence of God’s authorship of our Universe or God’s presence in our reality.
Some scientists whose work I admire, study and present throughout my web pages are atheists and have publicly shared their atheist philosophy. Also some of my friends and acquaintances are atheists that provide a challenging perspective to my personal faith. Among them a brilliant Physicist, whose lectures were the inspiration for the Goldilocks Universe articles.
During one particular lecture, this Physicist presented a sample of what he referred to as the “Many Miracles” that make it possible for all of us to be here. Right now, I will only mention one of those “Miracles”. We know from an early age that our world is made up of solids, liquids, and gases (there is also plasma but I not going there right now). While we take this for granted, it is vital for our very existence that the “physical property of matter allows for the coexistence of solids, liquids, and gases”. Let’s think about it! We depend on oxygen as a gas to breath, as a liquid in water to live, and as a mineral solid in our bones to function. This is a property of matter that is just there without a scientific explanation and it is essential for our existence.
Later in the “Soul & Brain” series, I will try to make a fair presentation of the atheists perspective on God followed by a personal response.
In the previous “Soul & Brain” article, I presented how our ancestors search for the sacred and supernatural triggered the development and evolution of the human brain’s complexity. Our complex brain makes us Human and it was wired from the very beginning to recognize and seek God.
If we are so wired and our ancestors believed in the spiritual life, why do some people today not believe in a God, a Soul, or a Spiritual Life? In looking at the numbers, statistics show that only about 20% of the world population and only about 15% of the US populations do not believe in God or a spiritual life, meaning that a majority of the world population does believe in God or a spiritual life.
For those that do not believe in the spiritual realm, the reasons are very complex and varied. But scientific research in studying the difference between believers and non-believers is discovering there is a structural and functional difference between the brains of both groups. In “Soul & Brain 3” we are going to focus on one of the studies: “The God Gene”
In this study, both believers and non-believers were given photographs that were distorted to look like Rorschach tests (inkblots). The believers identified all the elements in the photographs that were there plus a few elements that were not there. The non-believers did not identify any elements that were not there, but they also missed some of the elements that were actually there.
The next step was to give a Dopamine drug to the non-believers. Dopamine is a brain neurotransmitter that is involved in our perception of reality, our emotional responses, and proper movement and behavior. After administering the drug, the non-believers were given the same photographs and the results were similar to the believers.
In parallel with this study was the research of Dr. Dean Hamer a behavioral geneticist at the National Institute of Health. While studying how our DNA affects personality, he made the following discovery. People that had feelings of self-transcendence also had in their DNA (from blood samples) a gene that produces the VMAT 2 receptor, a brain neurotransmitter that regulates the concentration of dopamine and serotonin. Dr. Hamer named the gene “The God Gene”.
Self-transcendence means a feeling that there is more to our reality than the material world and self. For many it means a spiritual life or a connectedness to God.
Dr. Hamer goes on to explain that this God Gene accounts for about 10% influence on a person’s faith in God, other factors being cultural traditions, experiences, personality traits, and personal choices. While he states that this gene does not prove God’s existence, it does demonstrate God’s ingenuity in writing this gene into our DNA. Another example of how human beings are wired to seek and find God.