Until recent times, it has been assumed that the reason why
we behave the way we do, is due to our inherited genetic programming modified
by our environment, over generations –in other words - evolution. However, it
has recently been discovered that we are not prisoners of our genes in our lifetime;
rather, we can modify our behavior by our beliefs and perceptions.
Conventional biology has long taught that that our genes
were like a blueprint of how to build a human, and each had a protein to do the
work of bioconstruction. But the recent Human Genome Project upset that theory
by discovering that there were actually about 5 times as many proteins as
genes. This finding overturned conventional biology and opened the door to the
discovery of the mechanism of epigenetics, so named because it is “over our
genes”
The epigenetic mechanism influences our behavior and traits by
environmental signals without affecting the sequence of the genes in our DNA. For
example, cigarette smoke can cause a chemical reaction which enters the blood
stream and modifies proteins to cause disease.
Another common example is that of an unhealthy diet causing epigenetic
processes which damage cells.
Examples of signals
that effect behavior include life experiences, such as childhood trauma, which can
affect lifetime behavior, or the compulsive ‘voice in our head’ which incites
the emotions of worry and fear. The
epigenetic process initiated by our perceptions, and beliefs commonly result in
the ‘placebo effect.’
By control of our
perceptions, we can initiate epigenetic mechanisms which modify our proteins,
and turn off their associated genes. This can modify our inherited genetic
priority and turn off primitive survival genes reducing negative behavior, such
as: competition and greed. Modifying our
genetic priorities permits the expression of lower priority genes, such as our
altruistic genes. As discussed in the
book Happiness Genes, expressing our altruistic genes, such as compassion, ignite
the neurotransmitters that are associated with the rewarding emotions of
happiness.
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