The Biology of Belief

Show Summary - June 14, 2010

Monologue.

Sharon welcomed the listeners and talked about the importance of water in life and life in water. She said that it is imperative for everyone to realize the importance of water, to drink plenty of water and to carry water with them if they are unsure of a water source. Dehydration, or lack of water, is out of control in our world and causes or contributes to ailments from allergies to obesity.

Guest: Bruce H. Lipton, PhD

Bruce H. Lipton, PhD (Felton, CA), developmental biologist and winner of the Goi Peace Award. "Can your beliefs alter your DNA?"

Bruce Lipton is a biological researcher who did some of the earliest stem cell research, in the 1960's. His lifelong interest has been to challenge the theory of "Genetic Determinism," which states that your DNA, or genes, control much of what the cells in your body do.

In an early experiment, he took a single stem cell, grew from it many stem cells all with identical DNA and planted them in different environments. One group developed into muscle cells, one into bone cells and one into fat cells. His point was that DNA did not cause this differentiation. The study was widely dismissed, at the time, as an aberration.

The human body has 50 trillion cells which, according to Dr. Lipton, are all separate and sentient (or aware). Every function in the body (breathing, food intake and elimination) is repeated in every cell. That means that very person is actually a community of cells, each doing an assigned job. The health of the body depends on the health of each individual cell and disease in not a problem in the body, it is a problem in the body environment and, ultimately the cellular environment (stress outside = stress inside and vice-versa).

Every cell, of course, requires water. According to Dr. Lipton, organisms can live on land only if they can carry water with them.

Beliefs and attitudes, in this system, are critical to health. It is an established fact that sugar pills and prayers can cure a certain percentage of seriously ill individuals. Each cell has receptors that can take in this information and act upon it. Genes are essentially blueprints in this system and do not make these decisions.

Most disease, according to Dr. Lipton, is self-inflicted and one-third of medical healing is spontaneous and not due to any treatment.

Dr. Lipton mentioned the "nocebo effect" (as opposed to the "placebo effect"), which says that negative thoughts can cause disease. "The Power of Positive Thinking" is also the power of negative thinking.

Regarding the Goi Peace Award, this is given annually in Japan and Dr. Lipton won it for his book, the Biology of Belief (Hay House, 2008). The book explores the notion that we all tend to see ourselves as victims of the environment but that our beliefs and behavior patterns create both internal and external realities.

We are the creators of the world, he says. Humanity is challenged to create a shared belief system that promotes health and a fulfilling life for everyone. He calls this an "evolutionary jump." Humans, he explains, are a community of cells and while we are no longer evolving very much as individuals, he sees the potential to unite into a super-organism. He believes that the current global chaos will resolves itself in this direction.

Categories: Alternative medicines and therapies; ecology and the environment; health and wellness; 2010