Born to Rage: Inside the Warrior Gene
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Born to Rage: Inside the Warrior Gene

2010, Science  -   45 Comments
5.55
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Ratings: 5.55/10 from 60 users.

Born to Rage: Inside the Warrior GeneWere you born to rage? Is the need for anger management in your genes? Many, like ex-punk rocker Henry Rollins, have struggled with feelings of aggression their entire lives, and National Geographic is on a mission to figure out why.

Scientists are investigating a single gene - dubbed the warrior gene - that has been associated with violent behavior, raising the disturbing possibility that some people are Born to Rage.

Henry tests this theory on a colorful crew: outlaw bikers, mixed martial arts fighters, Buddhist monks and former gang members.

DNA testing reveals which of them - including possibly Henry Rollins himself - carries the warrior gene. The results provide an extraordinary insight into human behavior.

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vaznaj
vaznaj
2 years ago

if you have this gene. congratulations and welcome to the fire bending academy.

Sarah
Sarah
8 years ago

There is nothing warrior about losing your cool and having a temper unless it's righteous, in which case it does not need to be managed. A warrior would never use initiatory force, that's just a bully with issues. Much easier to put it down to a gene and let others suffer your moods than to sort your victim perpetrator issues out. That's not warrior!

Chubbyranks
Chubbyranks
9 years ago

Maybe they just want people to do the tests so they can save DNA.

Richard Neva
Richard Neva
10 years ago

Forget this film, they will not let you see it. They take you through a mobius loop that goes nowhere!

Timothy Llewellyn
Timothy Llewellyn
10 years ago

I think labeling this gene the warrior gene is misleading. It should be the uncontrolled temper gene.

Michael Rochecouste
Michael Rochecouste
11 years ago

Better doco than I had imagined.

Seeker1982
Seeker1982
11 years ago

Psychopath gene would be a much better name for it and it's nothing to be proud of to have it.

Bigboy456
Bigboy456
11 years ago

Where can I get tested for this gene y how much will it cost mi?

fifimsp
fifimsp
11 years ago

I think they need to define the violence. To me the biker that everybody thought was going to have it didn't. The type of anger he had though was reactionary anger and violence. To be honest, I'm not violent but I'd probably kill somebody if I caught them in bed with my husband. I've been bullied like Henry and have gone off on people too. Now, I work with BD kids and I have reactionary kids and I also have aggressive for no reason bullies. Kids who are mean and nasty or are always in a state of anger for no reason. Also they are the ones who experience highs and shortly are followed by an outburst. I do believe this is the serotonin levels they're talking about. I think we can all be violent. But how we react in just every day situations is important. Also, there could be other genes counteracting the one in some people but not the other. Also, is this the only gene to make you an ***hole? Probably not.

Philip
Philip
11 years ago

First of all we're talking about one entire third of all males - hardly a rarity. Second, who came up with the deceptive term 'warrior gene'? A sensationalist title meant to make this documentary sound interesting, yet in actual fact simply refers to a diminished version of a gene we all carry. It could just as easily be called a 'deficient', as a 'warrior' gene.

It just means, as the MMA guys prove by lacking it, that people who carry it have less control or ability to deal with aggressive impulses - like the dutch family who beat and rape their women.

I found this entire documentary fascinating in it's ability to carry on with a foolishly misleading premise, despite all it's own evidence to the contrary. As a long time Rollins fan, I expect more intelligence than that from you Henry.

the555hit
the555hit
11 years ago

I'm an American purveyor of video entertainment, in this case 'documentary' and y'know, i was brought up on beligerence, and sugar, and i see violence like i see sugar --- just gotta get it in everywhere i can --- in fact i'll base an entire diet on sugar-violence and sell it to you as nutrition, dissembling the whole prurient ruse beneath a plassy guise of not-even-half-hearted finger wagging. And when i run out of themes, like "violence-obsessed creep stalks helpless woman, or "violence-obsessed creep murders helpless woman" or "violence-obsessed creep stalks and murders helpless woman" i'll start desperately inventing some more. Here's one. It's called "the warrior gene" my latest purile little 5hortd1ck excuse to put out another little ad for.. you guessed.. glorious American v i o l e n c e .

America's cousins across the pond have word for the people who churn out this kind of moronic unreconstructed churning out of quasi-thoughtful self aggrandising propaganda. It's a word Americans don't generally understand. I wonder why.. The word is FUKKEN WANKERS. Is this how you you think you can continue running the planet?

thenesteamonster
thenesteamonster
11 years ago

a failed experiment that turns into a movie production! this film proves to me that some people can make money out of anything, especially violence; just put in some gangsters or other characters that seem interesting/ frightening to some and you're set

Dallas Moore
Dallas Moore
11 years ago

I'm sure it really doesn't mean anything, but some part of me still wanted to get tested anyway. Maybe so that I just could use it as an excuse for all the violent **** I've done in the past. So Iooked it up and you can order the test kits for $100. I'm not that curious. There are plenty of other things I'd rather spend $100 on.

Darren Walton
Darren Walton
11 years ago

So they picked a random gene and called it "warrior" Gene, then found that monks have it, the same as bikers, proving literally...ehm...nothing. Great science guys. Myth busted

lol_what_am_i_saying
lol_what_am_i_saying
11 years ago

didn't watch more than 20 min... but what i get is that henry rollins seems too much like a poser, he doesn't seem real to me at all. all his "anger" seems to be one directed towards something within an audience.
look at me i'm pissed off! check me out

drinker69
drinker69
11 years ago

Take things as they come. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.-Bruce Lee
Fkkn eh
-drinker69

Chaz Ed
Chaz Ed
11 years ago

Henry seems to have been in the same situation growing up as myself! I did notice that he wears jeans and still doesn't have the warrior gene! I don't believe I have the warrior gene but I do like to wear jeans. And it's likely that provoked I could stomp someones arse! That is if they don't mind...

Lorna Kennedy
Lorna Kennedy
11 years ago

They may well find a jean that influences the worrior jean. Think a whole lot more needs to be found out. It could be misleading to some and i cant believe it was used in court. I was interested in this warrior jean but found i could have learnt as much reading a short paragraph.I have no interest in Henrys life and instead of watching a documentary i watched a reality tv programme about a twat who is looking to excuse his bad behaviour.

Amirreza Rafiee
Amirreza Rafiee
11 years ago

I am just thinking whether the warrior gene has to do with what the level of your emotional intelligent is. It might seem there is no relation at the first glance, but considering the balance matter in all aspects of the life and probably universe, it might suggest that the worrier carriers are trying to seek peace somewhere in their life and subsequently they would have a higher EQ level. I might be absolutely wrong, but this is the sort of feeling that I got it through the whole worth watching film.

Imightberiding
Imightberiding
11 years ago

... short & sweet: I would think after watching this film & giving it some thought & reflection, this so called gene is probably more related to risk taking proclivities than violence as an isolated behavior. Just my thoughts, but don't any one piss me off about it!!!

Oh, & you know Henry Rollins was secretly pissed he didn't have the gene. Now all he has an excuse for his bad attitude, behavior & aggression is his upbringing & personal response to it. His lack of personal growth & prolonged immaturity are a result of his own choices. Shame on you Henry! We all go through Sh#t, but some of us deal with it in a more mature & civilized way. Just messin' people. I love good ole Henry & his angst.

JOHN STINTON
JOHN STINTON
11 years ago

You can't unbake a cake.

Mark
Mark
11 years ago

If we were to accept the proposition that we are essentially nothing(in the sense that we don't exist primarily as solid, unchanging entities and that this "appearance" of solidity is only just that, making us essentially illusory beings living in a dreamlike world), then anything describing us physically or mentally(which of course includes the so called "Warrior gene") is also an illusion created by our minds(though just for the sake of "believing" we understand human behavior we would still cling to these illusory notions as valid; this applies to all of psychology and spirituality).

Igor Chang
Igor Chang
11 years ago

I kept watching cause of Rollins!

eyecandy_babydoll
eyecandy_babydoll
11 years ago

There are sooo many things that can pre-dispose someone WITHOUT the warrior gene to violent behavior. Drugs, alcohol, social pressure, brain trauma, childhood abuse, neuro-chemical imbalance, epigenetic silencing, PTSD, the list goes on and on.

Just like having the warrior gene does not mean you're going to be violent. If it's shortened or silenced, I'm guessing certain methyl donors could increase it's activity (B12, betaine containing foods or supplements). Then the warrior gene carrier could end up as a preacher, charity worker or life saver.

Muse Photos
Muse Photos
11 years ago

Great documentary.

sknb
sknb
11 years ago

I wonder if the warrior gene would be related to being violent against yourself in self - harm.

Lazra
Lazra
11 years ago

A warrior fights what he or she perceives as a threat. In youth, our perception of threats is elementary to our perception of threats as adults. Any individual you meet, know, or come into contact with that fights against his or her threats whether that may be physically, mentally, and/or spiritually is a warrior and is likely to have this 'warrior' gene. Bless

Jack1952
Jack1952
11 years ago

I was a bartender for over ten years and whenever someone entered the bar that had the look and the swagger of Henry Rollins I expected trouble. Quite often I would be right.

There are those who carry their belligerence like a badge of honour. They would rather scowl than smile, fight than shake hands, and don't care that they are not welcome in any public establishment or most homes in town. A very strange way to live a life.

pumbaas_liferaft
pumbaas_liferaft
11 years ago

They should probably rename it the "domestic violence gene" or the "ass hole gene".

BlackDog Aura
BlackDog Aura
11 years ago

the name warrior gene is pretty misleading.

why not call just call it the the buddhist monk gene.

or the totally random association gene

John Krisfalusci
John Krisfalusci
11 years ago

LOL this is already debunked when Henry Rollins said as a child he was provoked until he was pushed over the limit by, i.e., urinating on himself which causes humiliation in self to permanently 'turn on' this anger/rage behaviour. This whole gene thing is getting out of hand. If you just look at childhood experience, these traumatic experiences make up almost 95% of anger/rage issues. Seriously, these people are over-doing this. Statistical info can be found in DSM-IV.