Phil HL - The God Gene

What is it about?
1. a specific gene that predisposes people to spiritual/mystical experiences
  1. religious behaviour due to a gene
  2. an evolutionary advantage: spiritual people tend to be more optimistic
    1. optimism: leads to pyschological/physical advantages - longer life
  3. products of reproduction & survival
2. Darwin
  1. meme: a unit of cultural transition
  2. Religion is one of the most powerful of memes
    1. passed on through speech, writing, gestures, rituals
  3. memes mutate & evolve like genes do
For
1. Applies to observations of William James: People who find it impossible to believe
2. explains persistence of religious beliefs
Against
1. Can the existence be studied empirically?
2. Zimmer: based only on one study
3. Polkinghorne: Theory is reductionist, only justified with the simplest most basic pyschical mechanisms involved
4. Why would God create people who cannot believe in him and then punish them?

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