The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author

The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author | Richard Dawkins | The Selfish Gene

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	The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author Richard Dawkins Oxford University Press, USA, 2006 - 384 pages average customer review:based on 283 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands of readers to rethink their beliefs about life.
In his internationally bestselling, now classic volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit, and yet, Dawkins argues, acts of apparent altruism do exist in nature. Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk.
This 30th anniversary edition of Dawkins' fascinating book retains all original material, including the two enlightening chapters added in the second edition. In a new Introduction the author presents his thoughts thirty years after the publication of his first and most famous book, while the inclusion of the two-page original Foreword by brilliant American scientist Robert Trivers shows the enthusiastic reaction of the scientific community at that time. This edition is a celebration of a remarkable exposition of evolutionary thought, a work that has been widely hailed for its stylistic brilliance and deep scientific insights, and that continues to stimulate whole new areas of research today.

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Some people never get it.

After reading this book a while back, I really did not get the impression from it that many people got. Some became depressed because of it?! It just does not make any sense.

This book does not tell us that we are no more than automatons, or that we are no more than our genes, or that we live a purposeless life, doomed to live out whatever was programmed into us by our genetic code. Sure, there are some spectacular statements that Dawkins makes for effect, but if one reads the entire book, one can understand that he is much of the time using metaphors to get a message across.

What is the general message? That we are survival machines for our genetic code. Our DNA contains code that works for its own survival, and why not? Who will really argue that we have no instincts? Instincts are something assigned only to "animals" by those of an anti-science mentality; instincts do not apply to "humans" as separate beings from the natural world. No, we are above all of that, the anti-science crowd will tell you.

However, remove things such as food, shelter, sex, loved ones, etc, and see how this human behaves. We are not set apart from the natural world, and we have drives and instincts that are hard-wired, just like all the other animals. These drives are for our own protection and for the protection of the ones closest to us, and if threatened by danger, we see who comes first in our eyes.

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The Selfish Gene

A mind blowing book. I read it 30 years ago and just re-read the slightly enhanced newer edition. Chapter 2, which introduces the idea that genes, not organisms, are the focus of evolution always gives me a feeling of awe, the closest I can come to a religious experience -- but, of course, Dawkins would not approve of that.

Some of the chapters could be heavy going to a casual reader, demanding quite a bit of thought to follow the arguments. Along the way there are some nice descriptions of weird animal behavior.

One of the additional chapters discusses the extended phenotype, and made me want to read Dawkins' book of that title.

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Shockingly Good

Very well written book. Anyone with no background in Biology will be able to understand this book without any trouble. Richard Dawkins also provides good evidences and detailed explanations throughout the book. If you are a religious person, beware that this book might shock you in several ways.

We have a genetic predisposition to act self interestedly? Who woulda thunk it?

Perhaps when this book first dropped 30 years ago as the blueprint for evolution it was considered radical. Today it's taken as a given that the primary motivating force for behavior has a genetic basis. This shift in attitude may be a direct result of the widespread influence of The Selfish Gene, but I wouldn't know. I wasn't around then. But this is a fine work to help everyone understand the core essence of human nature, and how we can use our superior capacity for reason to create a society of compassion that compliments our biological imperative.

With the existence of such formidable works as this, it remains positively astounding that any debate should remain on the matter of Creationism, Intelligent Design or whatever transparent euphemism is currently fashionable amongst the fundamentalists so populous in rural regions.

Of particularly acute interest to those seeking a slight edge in the competition of the fit should be chapter 9. This is something I most certainly will be passing on to those with whose success I have a genetic interest. Most, however, will never find their way to it, which suits me just fine. The less you know, the better it is for me. Hahahahaha!

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