The Premise

The Premise

For every physical characteristic that is universal to a species, there 
must exist some gene or set of genes responsible for the emergence of that 
particular trait. For example, 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 our emerging bodies to develop one in that very 
place. It's not, for instance, as if a nose can develop anywhere on one's 
body, only by mere coincidence, it always ends up on our face. Apparently, 
humans are genetically "hard-wired" to develop in a very specific and 
particular way.

The same principle not only applies to universal physical traits, 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 been exposed to any 
other, construct their hives in such an identical fashion means that they 
must be "hard-wired" to do so. It's not as if honeybees can build their 
hives any way they "desire," only by sheer coincidence all construct them 
in the same exact way. Apparently, honeybees are innately, that is, 
genetically "hard-wired" to construct their hives in this particular 
fashion. This would suggest that somewhere in the honeybees' brains there 
must exist a specific cluster of neurons that contain genetically 
inherited instructions which compel the bees to construct hexagonally 
shaped hives. The same principle holds true for anything from a peacock's 
instinct to display its feathers when exposed to an aroused peahen to a 
cat's instinct to groom itself. In essence, any behavior that is universal 
to any species is, more than likely, the consequence of a genetically 
inherited impulse or instinct. 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 language suggests that our species' linguistic 
capacities constitute a genetically inherited trait. Since our capacity 
for language represents a cognitive function, there must exist some very 
specific cluster of neurons within the brain from which our linguistic 
capacities are generated.

As we know such "linguistic" sites do exist in the human brain and include 
the Wernicke's area, Broca's area, and angular gyrus. Damage incurred to 
any one of these "language" specific sites will impair some very specific 
part of one's language capacities. What this clearly demonstrates is that 
our linguistic capacities are directly related to our neurophysiological 
makeup. Furthermore, this supports the notion that for every 
cross-cultural behavior our species exhibits there must exist a specific 
part of the brain from which that 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? Every known 
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" instincts, just like our linguistic ones, must be 
generated from some very specific physical part within the brain? I 
informally refer to this 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 a god or gods, a soul, as well as an 
afterlife? How else are we to explain the fact that every human culture 
has built houses of worship through which to pray to such unseen forces? 
Or that every known culture has buried (or at least disposed of) its dead 
with a rite that anticipates sending the deceased person's "spiritual" 
component, or what we call a soul, onward to some next plane, or what we 
call an afterlife? Wouldn't the universality with which such perceptions 
and behaviors are exhibited among our species suggest that we might be 
"hard-wired" this way? How about the fact that every known culture has 
related undergoing what we refer to as spiritual experiences? Perhaps we 
are "hard-wired" to experience such sentiments as well. 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.

Essentially, what I'm suggesting is that humans are innately "hard-wired" 
to perceive a spiritual reality. We are "hard-wired" to believe in forces 
that transcend the limitations of this, our physical reality. Most 
controversial of all, if what I'm suggesting is true, it would imply that 
God is not necessarily something that exists "out there," beyond and 
independent of us, but rather as the product of an inherited perception, 
the manifestation of an evolutionary adaptation that exists within the 
human brain. And why would our species have evolved such a seemingly 
abstract trait? -In order to enable us to deal with our species' unique 
and otherwise debilitating awareness of death.

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 kneeled 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 not just the possibility that one day we might not, but the 
certainty 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.

In the "higher" animals, most particularly among the mammals, threatening 
circumstances elicit a particular type of pain we refer to as anxiety. 
Anxiety constitutes a type of pain meant to prompt these "higher" order 
animals to avoid potentially hazardous circumstances. 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 experience. 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. Unless nature could somehow relieve us of this 
debilitating awareness of death, it's possible our species might have soon 
become extinct. 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, of 
death.

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.


THE "GOD" PART OF THE BRAIN:

A SCIENTIFIC INTERPRETATION OF HUMAN SPIRITUALITY AND GOD

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402214529?tag=thegolemsport-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1402214529&adid=1VER033ZWY25DP6WVZ73&