Spirituality in the Flesh: Bodily Sources of Religious Experiences

Author:Robert C. Fuller [Fuller, Robert C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2008-07-29T01:05:00+00:00

The Biology of Desire

Biological evolution operates according to a very simple formula. Natural selection favors those organisms that are most reproductively fit. Evolution is single-minded in this regard. All it really cares about is whether organisms can reproduce and raise their offspring to the point of biological viability. Evolution selects for attributes that enhance the reproductive transmission of gene pools and selects against those that impede this process. Hence, the various traits that distinguish any given species (e.g., digestive systems, immune systems, ability to communicate, etc.) exist by virtue of their contribution to the overall task of transmitting the genetic codes of life.

Evolutionary psychology argues that our brains consist of distinct "mental modules" that were shaped by natural selection to ensure our species' survival. One of the most important of these modules concerns the activity of "mate selection" that guides humans' choice of sexual partners.' It seems, for example, that natural selection favored conditions in which males compete with one another for sexual access to females because females risk so much of their reproductive potential with each copulation, while males risk little. It also seems probable that early in our evolutionary history, males used food to lure females, beginning the evolutionary tendency of males to control females (and especially their sexual behaviors). Males are inclined to seek out as many female partners as possible, while females tend to be more discriminating in their choice of partners. Males prefer younger females (who are more likely to be fertile and healthy), while females tend to prefer males who give evidence of being able to provide resources for future parental investment. Natural selection has thus shaped our sexual preferences to ensure that our DNA is successfully transmitted to the next generation.

Human sexuality, then, has deep biological foundations. Among our biologically encoded characteristics is our ability to "fall in love." The capacity for love emerged in our evolutionary history to ensure that we make the kinds of emotional investments that have reproductive consequences.' In recent years we have begun to know a lot more about the biology of love. We know, for example, that the core feelings of love are associated with discrete biological systems within human physiology and neuroanatomy.s On the basis of recent studies of brain physiology, Helen Fisher theorizes that human love is rooted in three distinct neurological systems. Each system evolved to solve specific mate selection issues and each has its own specialized brain circuitries, hormones, and neurotransmitters. The first neurological component of love has to do with mechanisms that get us aroused, interested, and seeking. The second focuses our attention on one mate. The third forms attachment, or binds us to that mate. Each of these three biologically grounded components of human love produces its own distinct set of motivations and behaviors.

The first biological substrate of human love is what Fisher terms "lust." By lust, Fisher means the craving for sexual gratification that emerged in human biology as a means of motivating our ancestors to seek sexual union with almost any available partner.

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