ToMeK

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7147

I always imagined this to be the case. Mainly because some people can escape religion with relative ease while other cannot imagine themselves even doubting the fairytales. Then there are the people in between of course. It would also explain how some atheists may turn to religion though in many cases this is just a desperate cling onto the mraining years of one's life.

Of course, this is bad in a way as it may imply that religion is here to stay for longer than we though..and possibly for as long as humanity exists. There's no way that these genes would be naturally selected for eradication.

A bit critisizm I have though is that it didn't use atheists. There may have been a few in there but their results would be dissolved in with the low-religious people. Studies should gather explicit atheists and put them into one group. Then differerntiate as to how religious or how non-religious each group is. How strong each group is in their stance...

Tomek

southernhybrid

Steven Pinker makes a similar case in his book, The Blank State. Actually Pinker seems to think that genes determine just about everything and while he makes a very convincing case in his book, I think he does go a bit overboard. He even makes a case for genes determining conservative and liberal political leanings.

It's just more of the old nature verses nurture argument. The problem that I see with the genes determines religiosity stance, is that it doesn't seem to consider why particular periods of time in history were more influenced by religiosity than others. It doesn't explain why certain geographical areas are more religious or more freethinking than others. Are we to believe that the people in England are more genetically prone to atheism, than say the people in the USA? I suppose you could make a case that the most zealous religious individuals left Europe to settle the new world, and they've been breeding in large numbers ever since, but I think one must take other considerations into account as well as genetic predisposition when it comes to religiosity. I can't discount the effect of indoctrination and cultural tradition. Also there are many atheists that deconvert in mid life. Why not earlier, if religiosity is genetically predetermined? Maybe some people are more susceptible to brainwashing than others? Maybe it's more about being an individualist as opposed to a conformist? I don't know but the nature vs. nuture debate has been one of my favorites for a long time. I doubt it will ever be settled one way or the other. I think it's a combination of many factors myself.

sharon45

This could be a explanation for some people, but to me, it would be a much smaller minority of the whole. I think it is much more probable that it is a question about one not wanting to actually face his or her fears. This would work on a number of issues with just one being led to religion.

IvanJames

re-posted due to mid-computer crash, and I liked the second one better

IvanJames

Funny, I just made this point on another forum...

I read fairly recently that experiencing the arts strokes the same part of the brain that religious experiences do. I wonder if that accounts for the relatively high percentage of atheists in the arts, or is it just because we're just a bunch of rebels?

---Ivan James

ToMeK

Well many of my Parkour friends seem to be atheists too. I guess tehse are people who are a little rebellious and creative.

Clivedurdle

There is a direct connection between religion and art, religion in many ways is amateur art, where the thinking and skills have not been systematically taught.

Thinking artists may be the most important people to undermine religion by enabling everyone to develop their artistic talents appropriately, in contrast to them being stuck in inappropriate modes.

Philippe*

I think maybe I care some religious/art genes if they exist, but I think I have never been deeply able to trust the OT as inherent, and when I read it I hardly understand how one can trust the OT as the word of God and I have got difficulties to accept easily it has built the civilization I live in and how so many intelligent people are able to renounce to their good common sense, I don't know whether it is genetic, I think conditioning from childhood has a keyrole, but though they are religious people nobody in my family is biblical fundy as far as I know.

Philippe

iLoveKnowledge

even if there is a genetic reason for religious beliefs it doesn't mean we are hard-wired to follow that path. How would they explain why some people who are raised in Fundamentalist homes become atheists? Maybe, much like the blood from some royal family member, thinned out more with each passing generation?

Edit: I jsut realized that doesn't even answer my question. I'm not an expert, but AFAIK, sometimes genetically-determined stuff tends to hang around even a long stretch down the bloodline.

IvanJames

Color me flattered, Clive!


---Ivan James