A while back in one of the podcasts it mentioned that gene(s) mutations could have resulted in part of the biological reasons for a individual to be more likely to be religious. I was reading also that some of those same genes can be a bit off that may connect to psychological disorders such as schizophrenia. Potentially , VMAT2. I believe the podcast may have even mentioned that another mutation of that gene could encourage atheism.
My question though is there a good resource with lists of some of the top gene candidates for possibly influencing spirituality and do we know roughly how far back these genes first mutated?
Since there is more of an established link between schizophrenia and high creative intelligence, such a link to religious tendency sounds more like a compliment to me. LOL
However… because of the great variety of both religion and those in religion, I think such a link is highly unlikely.
I do think there may be a link to one basic cognitive trait in the spectrum of pattern recognition. In other words, I think it quite possible there is a positive correlation between religious involvement and a higher tendency to see shapes and patterns in random data … bunny rabbits in the clouds and such.
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Klax
(The only thing that matters is faith expressed in love.)
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We have an overactive agency detector, which has evolutionary survival value and we have a sacred moral taste receptor, likewise, going back to the lateral line in fish at least: we are so fine tuned to the weather that we can detect geosmin in petrichor in parts per trillion.
Back to the link between religion and schizophrenia…
What has been found is that religion has a strong impact on those with schizophrenia both positive and negative, significant in shaping delusion or providing means of coping. It makes me wonder if the effect of a particular religious involvement on those with schizophrenia can be considered a measure of good religion versus bad religion. There seems to be some correlation with things that I consider good and bad in religion.