Thanks, Steve, for this forwarding...
Pay please attention: R.Morrison claims, although dimly enough, but with sure
distinctness that spirituality is predestined by neurophysiological sources.
The genetic carrierness of such phenomenon as, e.g., joy (I mean existence of a
special "gene of joy") was predicted by your humble servant long ago and this
year publication about discovery of such gene was not for me a surprise. We
have to be soon acquainted with peculiarities of carriers of conscience, sense
of the beautiful, personal developments and so on.
As to the spirituality, I suppose that it is very possibly the gene,
responsible for general forming
many genuinely human dispersive organs of spirituality, to locate on a map of
the human genom... Beside, as it seems, there are to be different "second job"
of some genes which such second peculiar ability starts function only within
space created by the humankind evolution of second kind.
Paradoxically, R.Morrison, IMHO, makes mistake attributing to the "genetically
productive spirituality" the blame for overpopulation of the world
and devastation of "our own habitats". Evidently, this happens precisely on
account of the directly opposite, and namely of... partial lack of
spirituality in humankind of rationalism age..
Good luck.
Valery
Steve Kurtz wrote:
> -------- Original Message --------
> From: "BrainFood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Book Alert!
>
> *Permission to reprint granted!
> (by Jay Hanson)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Why is economic theory so screwed-up? Why do economists invariably
> assume
> what they hope to prove? Or what's even more incredible, why does
> everyone
> on the planet seem believe this stupidity? Obviously, we must answer
> these
> questions before we can even hope to solve our collective survival
> problem.
>
> Guess what? Humans are genetically predisposed to believe in mystics,
> UFO's, Neoclassical Economic Theory, good-luck charms, etc.! In short,
> we
> evolved to believe in all kinds of gods -- including the Free Market
> God.
>
> Reg Morrison wrote the book I wanted to write. The forward is written
> by
> Lynn Margulis. Morrison's book is endorsed by E.O. Wilson of Harvard,
> and
> Thomas Eisner of Cornell. If you are ready for some answers, read
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0801436516/brainfood.a
>
> The Spirit in the Gene : Humanity's Proud Illusion and the Laws of
> Nature
> by Reg Morrison, Lynn Margulis
> Cornell University Press , March 12, 1999
> Hardcover - 286 pages (June 1999)
> Comstock Pub Assoc; ISBN: 0801436516
>
> >From the jacket:
>
> >From famines and deforestation to water pollution, global warming, and the
> rapid rate of extinction of plants and animals -- the extent of the
> global
> damage wrought by humankind is staggering. Why have we allowed our
> environment to reach such a crisis?
>
> What produced the catastrophic population explosion that so taxes the
> earth's resources? Reg Morrison's search for answers led him to ponder
> our
> species' astonishing evolutionary success. His extraordinary book
> describes
> how a spiritual outlook combined with a capacity for rational thought
> have
> enabled Homo sapiens to prosper through the millennia. It convincingly
> depicts these traits as part of our genetic makeup -- and as the likely
> cause of our ultimate downfall against the inexorable laws of nature.
>
> The book will change the way readers think about human evolution and the
> fate of our species. Small bands of apes walked erect on the dangerous
> plains of East Africa several million years ago. Morrison marvels that
> they
> not only survived, but migrated to all corners of the earth and
> established
> civilizations. To understand this feat, he takes us back to a critical
> moment when these hominids developed language and with it the unique
> ability
> to think abstractly. He shows how at this same time they began to derive
> increasing advantage from their growing sense of spirituality. He
> convincingly depicts spirituality as an evolutionary strategy that
> helped
> rescue our ancestors from extinction and drive the species toward global
> dominance.
>
> Morrison concludes that this genetically productive spirituality, which
> has
> influenced every aspect of our lives, has. Sobering, sometimes chilling,
> consistently fascinating, his book offers a startling new view of human
> adaptation running its natural course.
