1. Scientific Theories and Laws
2. The First Decade (1936-1946)
4. The Second Decade (1946-1956)
6. The Third Decade (1956-1966)
8. The Fourth Decade (1966-1976)
10. The Fifth Decade (1976-1986)
12. The Sixth Decade (1986-1996)
14. The Seventh Decade (1996-2006)
15. The Theory of More than Everything
16. The Eighth Decade (2006-2016)
18. The Ninth Decade (2016-2026)
Appendix A Paintings
Appendix B TTOMTE and a Steady State Universe
Appendix C Musical Compositions
Chapter 0-Page 0
Hamer does soften the idea a bit by saying spirituality is such a complicated thing it can't be totally explained by one gene, and what people do with their levels of spirituality is just as important. Hamer also says this DNA discovery does not prove or disprove God exists; it only suggests faith may result from evolution.
His book describes his scientific method in depth, but I'll only do highlights; again, get the book if you want more of the complete story. Hamer saw four things he would have to do in order to reach the conclusion in The God Gene: first, measure spirituality; second, separate the effects of heredity from culture; third, isolate the gene; and fourth, test the gene.
A man named Cloninger developed a psychological test to measure a person's level of spirituality, but first, he had to define spirituality. He studied people recognized as leading spiritual lives past and present from around the world and of any faith. He identified three traits possessed by all the subjects:
Cloninger set up a rating system in a questionnaire testing 1,388 people to discover any pattern by race, age, and gender. Cultural and religious backgrounds of the different races showed no patterns, an expected result. Age didn't matter either; both young and old had the same level, an unexpected result. Don't people deepen their spirituality as they get older?
Chapter 0-Page 0