Religions a farce?!

hello again peepz. (no doubt i'll get flamed at but oh well) i have discovered something. apparently scientist's discovered a "belief" Gene. this Gene actually makes the mind likely to believe ina higher power. a god for example. now, i'm not saying this to start flaming in massive amounts, but it is something that a few scientist's in a lab discovered. i'm not saying "this is the fact's! now stop believing!", so no-one try twisting my words. i'm wondering, what are everyones views on this? (and for the record, no i am NOT religeous)

How about some sources?

i apologise, but i cant obtain any actual sources. it is information my mom had passed onto me. once i find some, i'll post them.

I think believe has to be there, because many people live today because they believe in something. But again, If you believe in something that isn't true(I'm not saying the bible false or true) then it's hard to convince that man/woman too not to believe in that for example.

CO andy, the shift key is your friend. ^_^
Some sources would be nice, type 'Belief Gene' or something in google.
I think a human must find something to believe in. I think every human from the time they can think straight believes in something or the other.

There are several books on it, and quite a few articles. It'll be a long time before we figure out if it's true or not.

Nevertheless, while I'm atheist, out of fairness I should point out that this gene does not mean God doesn't exist. It just means the person is more prone to believe in something that possibly could exist.

Well the aggressive, homosexual, pedophile and 'fools' gene proved to be false so I have little faith in this one.

I'm pretty sure this whole "religion gene" is pure bulls**t. The reason why humans have always felt a presence in a higher being is due to the fact that back when we were hunter-gathers, we could not explain the world around us and we thought that somebody higher than us made the events we couldn’t explain. People today still have faith, due to the messages that many religions preach, like salvation, peace, love, and tolerance. To say that ones faith is based off of genetics is science taking one step too far.

I beleive in god becuase, given the complexity of our universe, I find it only logical to.

I've heard nothing of genes myself, but various conditions affecting the temporal lobe (i.e. TLE, sinus infections, physical trauma) have been known to affect religious faith in individuals.

Mind you, there's nothing conclusive to be drawn from that with respect to the reality of religion. Heightened or decreased religious inclination associated with a temporal lobe condition are simply that: There's no indication of which is "right," and based on the massive acceptance of religion, we can only assume that religion is normal regardless of whether it's governed by DNA or not.

Mind you, if it does turn out that there's a genetic aspect to religious faith (or lack thereof) it could have some interesting implications in how family history is factored for in acceptance of faith, in the same way as with sexuality.

I have discovered the "Zelda gene." Yes, there is a gene that makes people more inclined to play and enjoy the "Legend of Zelda" video game series.

A) Since when do genes affect actual behavior;
B) Since when do genes affect religion, being an abstract;
C) If the "religion" gene exists, why can't the above gene exist?

Why? Because genes determine physical and chemical makeup, and nothing more.

Originally Posted by LionHarted

A) Since when do genes affect actual behavior;

Genes have always affected behaviour, usually by determining some of the hormonal balance.

But if you want to get more elaborate answers, read this.

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

Genes have always affected behaviour, usually by determining some of the hormonal balance.

But if you want to get more elaborate answers, read this.

Do hormones affect which religion a person chooses?

Originally Posted by LionHarted

A) Since when do genes affect actual behavior;

Preceding the existence of mankind? Though to be fair we only confirmed that genetics had a major impact in human behavior... well... roughly fifty years ago.

Developmental psychology in its present form faced a complete revolution with the introduction of behavioral genetics. Not to mention that behavioral genetics is a truly massive field of study in itself; I recommend checking out the OMIM. A lot of them relate to common known traits: Alcoholism, general addictive personality disorders, and homosexuality. Or you can search Amazon for stock DP textbooks: They tend to focus less on the genetics, more on the behavioral consequences.

Originally Posted by Dryth

Developmental psychology in its present form faced a complete revolution with the introduction of behavioral genetics. Not to mention that behavioral genetics is a truly massive field of study in itself; I recommend checking out the OMIM. A lot of them relate to common known traits: Alcoholism, general addictive personality disorders, and homosexuality. Or you can search Amazon for stock DP textbooks: They tend to focus less on the genetics, more on the behavioral consequences.

Addictive personalities, social disorders, and homosexuality don't affect behavior. They affect inclination and chemical and social tolerance. Behavior is the "actions" of a human being, which is an "active" process, meaning that it is voluntary and requires the person engage in thought process and reasoning. When it comes down to it, a person's behavior is influenced by his upbringing and moral guidelines, not his genetics. His genetics might affect his ability to behave in a "normal" manner, but a behavior is, again, an active process, not a passive one.

Unfortunately, my internet connection had been down and I wasn't able to catch this topic earlier.

It simply isn't up to par for this board.

Thanks to the participants for helping the discussing, but I'm closing this.