The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes Paperback – September 13, 2005

If you read this book carefully, you will not fall into the abyss of some of the negative reviewers who misquoted, and more importantly, misunderstood the hypotheses presented. These previous negative reviewers who accused this author of rewriting earlier texts, particularly citing Persinger, did not understand this author's point. Persinger's theory (and yes, his name IS mentioned in THE GOD GENE) was very broad and unrelenting. His book definitely had an agenda beyond presenting scientific results; and I find him today to be obnoxiously certain about the correctness of his view. (Many so-called "hard" scientists and MDs can fall prey to thinking in these "black and white" terms, when in fact, most intelligent scientists leave room for a little grey area that might be provided by later research.) Clearly, the author of THE GOD GENE is more the modern social scientist, and I, as a reader, appreciated having ideas suggested rather than being hammered by a self-righteous pedant. (Persinger's book is very old in scientific-literature years, the 1980s, and perhaps his approach to writing is also dated. He cited one area of the brain as the source of "irrational" human belief in "supernatural beings" or spiritual optimism which he also, incidentally, clearly sees as a temporary aberration wholly caused by changes in brain chemicals). This may have been ground-breaking research in the 1980's and earlier, but research since then has clearly outrun this first basic step. And gene research has a long way to go. If you are interested in this topic and have a mind that enjoys pondering interesting hypotheses, I highly recommend THE GOD GENE. Don't let the title dissuade you. The author has since admitted that it may not have been the best description of his project.

The author is on the right track but has more research to do before the hypothesis is proven. To me it is obvious that we humans have a proclivity toward belief in a higher power so prevalent that it must be in our DNA. However, it likely is an evolved trait of which the author leaves out of the discussion. The book is only touches a fraction of what might be taking place in the biology of the mind. Nice start in the right direction, and I can not wait for the sequel whom ever authors it. It might be a subject for our scientific mind observer Machio Kaku. He undoubtedly has some insight into this line of thought.

There were two things that I really appreciated about this book. First, the model for the study was clearly explained. I think that is important when doing research on concepts. Second, although it is a very scientific study, the author's writing style is enjoyable. He uses terms to explain concepts that a reader without a scientific/research background will understand. His conclusions are interesting and verifiable. I enjoyed reading and thinking with him about the concept.

a good read: easy, somewhat fun to read,but a bit winded.

I am enjoying reading this book. It arrived, as well, in a timely fashion, and I will not hesitate to order again.

Highly technical....read it twice to fully understand.....graduate level reading material!

No matter what your beliefs might be I recommend reading this. Dr. Hamer is nothing short of a genius. He is also respectful to all beliefs. Great read.

Filled with a lot of information

Best book on the subject I have read to date. I was so impressed I bought two other copies for friends and also his other book "Living with our genes". These are books to change your outlook life.

I thought this book would be interesting but found instead a book full of fuzzy-thinking with little structure and even less insight. Amongst other things, the author didn't seem to grasp the difference between "spirituality", "belief in god/s" and "religion", switching between the three concepts as if they were synonymous.As I finished reading it, I found myself thinking two not very complimentary thoughts: Firstly, that the author had jumped on the "Atheist vs. Theist" bandwagon of the past three years and, secondly, that he'd written a book on research that was not well-structured enough to be praised in a reputable academic journal. Since, as another reviewer points out, the author himself accepts that the title of his book is misleading, perhaps my thoughts were not too far removed from the reality.

A brillant study about spirituality and genetic. Presenting scientific results the author discusses how spirituality and religion may be directed by genes. Author also presents association between culture and nature. The final chapter is essential to understand spirituality under a scientific method.

Just started book the God Gene. Interesting concept easy to read.

nice,a must read book