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For every physical characteristic that is universal
to a species there must exist a gene or set of genes responsible for the
emergence of that particular trait. For instance, the fact that all cats
possess whiskers means that somewhere within a cat's chromosomes there
must exist "whisker" genes. Of our own species, that all humans
possess a nose in the middle of our face means that somewhere within our
chromosomes there must exist "nose" genes that instruct the
developing fetus to develop one and in that very place. It's not as if the
human nose could have developed anywhere on the body only, by sheer
coincidence, it consistently ends up in the middle of our face.
Apparently, humans are genetically "wired" to develop in this
particular way.
The same principle applies not only to
universal physical features but to universal behaviors as well. Take, for
instance, the fact that all honeybees construct their hives in the same
hexagonal pattern. That all honeybee colonies, regardless of whether
they've had contact with any other, construct their hives in this
identical fashion suggests that they are "hard-wired" to do so.
It's not as if, for instance, honeybees can build their hives any way they
"desire" and it's only by coincidence that they all construct
them in the same exact way. Apparently, honeybees are instinctively, that
is, genetically "hard-wired" to build their hives in this
particular fashion. Moreover, this would suggest that somewhere in the
honeybees' brains there exists a specific cluster of neurons that function
to compel the bees to construct hexagonally shaped hives. The same
principle holds true for anything from a peacock's instinct to display its
feathers to a cat's to groom itself. In essence, any behavior that is
universal to any species is, more than likely, the consequence of a
genetically inherited series of reflexes or what we call instincts.
The above principle not only applies to
honeybees, peacocks, or cats but to every life form, including our own.
The fact, for instance, that every human culture - no matter how isolated
- has communicated through a spoken language suggests that our species'
linguistic abilities are genetically inherited. Since our capacity for
language represents a cognitive function, there must exist a very specific
cluster of neurons within the brain from which our linguistic capacities
are generated. As neuroscience has evinced, such "language"
sites do exist in the human brain and include the Wernicke's area, Broca's
area and the angular gyrus. Damage incurred to any one of these language
enabling sites will consequently impair some very specific language
capacity, clearly demonstrating that our capacity for language is
determined by our neurophysiology. Furthermore, this supports the notion
that for all cross-cultural behaviors, there is a genetic component as
well as a part of the brain from which that specific behavior is
generated. If it's true that this principle applies to all of our
cross-cultural behaviors, should we not also apply it to spirituality?
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Humans: the musical animal, the
mathematical animal, the emotional animal, is also the
"spiritual" animal. In essence, every culture from the dawn of
our species has maintained a belief in some form of a
"spiritual" reality. Wouldn't this suggest that human
spirituality must represent an inherent characteristic of our species,
that is, a genetically inherited trait? Furthermore, being that
spirituality, just like language, represents a cognitive function,
wouldn't this suggest that our "spiritual" consciousness, just
like linguistic, must be generated from some specific part within the
brain? I informally refer to such a site as the "God" part of
the brain, a cluster of neurons from which spiritual cognitions,
sensations, and behaviors are generated. How else are we to explain the
fact that all human cultures - no matter how isolated - have maintained a
belief in some form of a spiritual/transcendental reality, in the concepts
of a god, a soul, and an afterlife? How else are we to explain the fact
that every human culture has built houses of worship through which to pray
to unseen forces? Or that every culture has buried [disposed of] its dead
with a rite that anticipates sending the deceased person's
"spirit" or soul onward to some next or other plane, what we
commonly refer to as an afterlife? Wouldn't the universality with which
such perceptions and behaviors are exhibited among our species suggest we
might be "hard-wired" this way? How about the fact that every
known culture has related undergoing what we refer to a specific set of
sensations we refer to as mystical or spiritual experiences?
Based on social, psychological,
and anthropological confirmation as well as the latest genetic and
neurophysiological research, The "God" Part of the Brain
explores the apparent correlation between spirituality/religiosity and the
human brain. Just as all honeybees are compelled to construct hexagonally
shaped hives, perhaps humans are compelled to perceive a spiritual
reality...as a reflex, an instinct. -And why would we have evolved such an
instinct?
With the dawn of human
intelligence, for the first time in the history of terrestrial life, an
organism could point its powers of perception back upon its own being; it
could recognize its own self as an object. For the first time, when an
animal knelt down to drink from the watering hole, it recognized its own
reflection. Only humans possess the advanced capacity for self-awareness.
Though, in many ways, this capacity has helped to make our species the
most versatile and powerful creature on earth, it also represents the
source of our greatest affliction. This is because once we became aware of
the fact that we exist, we became equally aware of the possibility that
one day we might not...even moreso, that it's certain that one day we will
not. With the advent of our species, with the emergence of self-conscious
awareness, a life form became cognizant of the fact that it is going to
die. All we had to do was to look around us to see that death was
inevitable and inescapable. More terrifying yet, death could befall us at
anytime. Any moment can be our last.
All life is
"hard-wired" to avoid those things that represent a threat to
its existence. When an animal gets too close to fire, for example, it
reflexively pulls away. It is this negative stimulus, this experience we
call pain, that prompts all forms of life to avoid such potential life
threats. Pain, therefore, acts as nature's electric prod that incites us
to avoid those things which may jeopardize our existence. Among those
animals higher up on the phylogentic ladder, most particularly among the
mammals, threatening circumstances elicit a particular type of pain we
call anxiety. Anxiety constitutes a type of pain meant to prompt these
"higher" order animals to avoid a potentially hazardous
circumstance. For example, a rabbit is cornered by a mountain lion. In
such a situation, the rabbit is pumped with adrenaline, charged with the
painful symptoms of anxiety, all meant to incite the rabbit to most
effectively escape from the source of its discomfort, in this case the
mountain lion.
In its healthiest form, anxiety
is meant to prompt an animal to avoid or escape a potentially hazardous
situation. In humans, however, once we became aware of the fact that death
was not only inescapable but that it could come at any moment, we were
left in a state of constant mortal peril, a state of unceasing anxiety -
much like rabbits perpetually cornered by a mountain lion from which there
is no escape. With the emergence of self-awareness, humans became the
dysfunctional animal, rendered helpless by an inherent and unceasing
anxiety disorder, all due to our inherent awareness of death. Unless
nature could somehow relieve us of this debilitating cognition, it's quite
possible our species may have been headed for certain extinction. It was
suddenly critical that our animal be modified in some way that would allow
us to maintain self-conscious awareness while enabling us to deal with our
unique awareness of our own mortalities.
Here lies the origin of
humankind's spiritual function, an evolutionary adaptation that compels
our species to believe that though our physical bodies will one day
perish, our "spirits" or "souls" will persist for all
eternity. Only once our species was instilled with this inherent (mis)perception
that there is something more "out there," that we are immortal
beings, were we able to survive our debilitating awareness of death. Here
lies the origin of the "God" part of the brain.
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