Book Review: The Selfish Gene
Book Author: Richard Dawkins
- recommendation: must read for everyone
- impact: reframes your perspective on evolutionary theory which is fundamental to thinking about human social interaction
Review
Bravo to Richard Dawkins for a masterpiece.
The selfish gene is an extraordinary book expanding Darwin’s theory of evolution so as to:
…examine the biology of selfishness and altruism.
After reading the book you understand why self-sacrifice makes sense and why selfishness makes sense but it does so much more than that!
Tthe impact of this book is summarized nicely by Dawkin’s in the preface to the second edition:
…a change of vision can achieve something loftier than a theory. It can usher in a whole new climate of thinking…
This is what this book does, it sucks you into a fascinating discourse that reframes many subtle beliefs that underpin our perspective on life and reforms Darwin’s theory of evolution from one of individual’s to one of genes.
It takes ideas that were mostly right and clarifies them, distills and purifies them in a way that makes you go aha! That makes so much sense in predicting the world, social behavior, and development!
It’s like thinking of the universe in terms of elements and then realizing it’s made of atoms. Once you start thinking in this way life makes so much more sense!
Key Takeaways
- the driver of evolution is the gene because organisms are survival machines created by our genes to serve their replication
- selfishness or altruistic behavior is determined by what most advantages the gene pool NOT the individual
- mankind is unique because brains have the power to overthrow the gene and change the paradigm
- there are ideas, called memes, that are just like genes (selfish replicators) but for human brains – religion is one such viral idea that reinforces itself despite being illogical
The Driver of Evolution is the Gene
We live to serve. Serve the gene.
That is the core point of the book, that the vehicle of evolution isn’t the group, nor the individual–it is the gene.
Suddenly the model for group dynamics and families (gene pools) now fits. When calculating payoffs to the gene instead of to the individual and the group they sum nicely.
Much as we might wish to believe otherwise, universal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts that simply do not make evolutionary sense.
Sidebar: As depressing as that point is, we are at a novel time where the selfish behavior of genes has given rise to conciousness–we could change evolution by becomming self-directed. We could engineer new behaviors, determine new values, and overthrow the tyranny of the gene.
If we want to become a globally aware society we need to recognize our biology does not naturally support this and we need to take action to change that.
If that weren’t enough he draws a delightful corollary between the gene and memes, or irrational idea that continue to self-replicate from brain to brain from generation to generation. Ideas such as religion and cultural identity.
Additional Notes
Richard Dawkin’s writing style and clarity of thought can teach us all something, seeing how he laid out his arguments and made his case in and of itself was a beauty to behold.
He took special care to frame his arguments prior to making them so they were recieved as they were intended.
While you are taking notes on the content you should be taking notes on how it was delivered!
Note: post originally written est. 2017