The Selfish Gene

40th Anniversary Edition

Paperback, 544 pages

English language

Published Dec. 4, 2016 by Oxford University Press.

ISBN:
978-0-19-878860-7
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(142 reviews)

The Selfish Gene is a 1976 book on evolution by the ethologist Richard Dawkins, in which the author builds upon the principal theory of George C. Williams's Adaptation and Natural Selection (1966). Dawkins uses the term "selfish gene" as a way of expressing the gene-centred view of evolution (as opposed to the views focused on the organism and the group), popularising ideas developed during the 1960s by W. D. Hamilton and others. From the gene-centred view, it follows that the more two individuals are genetically related, the more sense (at the level of the genes) it makes for them to behave cooperatively with each other. A lineage is expected to evolve to maximise its inclusive fitness—the number of copies of its genes passed on globally (rather than by a particular individual). As a result, populations will tend towards an evolutionarily stable strategy. The book also introduces the term meme for …

36 editions

Had I not read this with someone, I would've thrown it out sooner.

Starting with the least egregious first: I have to say is that Dawkins' editors (across all the editions) definitely did not do their job, if they even tried to in the first place. There are areas where the book does nothing but repeat the same sentence over and over in consecutive lines, and it's like no one noticed that he wrote the same thing. I was starting to feel déjà vu when reading it out loud to my partner, and it was really pissing me off.

Next, his examples are almost entirely hypothetical, and I do not care if something is "mathematically sound." Does it actually work that way? Should I really be thinking of it in that framework? In a lot of parts, I really get the feeling that I shouldn't be and like he tried his best to tip-toe around the things he "shouldn't say but really wants …

Review of 'The Selfish Gene' on 'Goodreads'

"Quit being so selfish, Gene!" Jimmy Fallon's fumbled line from SNL's classic "Don't Fear the Reaper" sketch came to mind several times while reading this excellent book. While of course there is little relevance between the two, the more widely known line about cowbells curing fevers does typify a unit of culture for which Dawkins coined the term "meme," which is now itself a meme.

This discussion of memes is what drew me to the book in the first place, but I enjoyed most of the rest of the book even more. There is great food for thought here, most especially the idea that bodies are merely survival machines, constructed and programmed at the whim of the genes inside, sequences of DNA with no purpose other than maximizing their own replication. The genes do this not only by improving their host bodies for their own survival, but also by directing …

Review of 'The Selfish Gene' on 'Goodreads'

Some ideas from the book:

Things prefer persistence, replication can help persistence, evolution (from copying errors or otherwise) is an inevitable consequence of replication. Our bodies are vehicles for our genes to use to create more copies of themselves. A gene may favor helping a sibling or another relative at times because siblings, parents, and offspring are all just as likely to contain the same gene within them. All replicants share certain properties and memes are an interesting example of these gene-like properties.

Review of 'The Selfish Gene' on 'Goodreads'

Reading "The Selfish Gene" is a classic case of liking the message, disliking the messenger. In general, I did not find anything particularly objectionable to its content and think that Dawkins is probably correct about how evolution works. He explains it in simple, easy-to-understand language and should be read for its ideas.

But I disliked the process of reading the book. The prose rambles and often feels like it was dictated and then transcribed. And I'll admit that ultimately, I found Dawkins' arrogance to be off-putting. He is truly convinced that this story is sufficient to construct a world-view. I do not begrudge him his beliefs and I do believe there should be a strong, vocal humanist/atheist movement. But I believe that this movement is weighed down by Dawkins' success. He is just as fundamentalist and dogmatic as those he criticizes.

What does make reading "The Selfish Gene" fascinating is …

Review of 'The Selfish Gene' on 'Goodreads'

The Selfish Gene was originally published in 1976 and remains a brilliant, amazing explanation and perspective on evolution at a gene level. It's also the book wherein the word "meme" is invented. I'd read this decades ago of course, back in the 80s and I highly recommend that everyone should read it.

That said, I am now listening to the audio book version of the updated edition, and I really don't recommend that, which is why not 5 stars. The problem with the audio book is that footnotes just don't work. And the updated edition is absolutely full of footnotes that interrupt the main text. Dawkins decided to get around this problem in the audiobook by having a female narrator read the main text and by interrupting in his own voice with the footnotes. Sounds good in theory, but it makes it really hard to follow the chapters if you …

Review of 'The Selfish Gene' on 'Storygraph'

You don't really understand evolution until you read this book. Probably the best thing I can say about it is that it makes the thing we call "life" -- usually described as this ethereal force or spark -- far more concrete than one thought possible. Read this, then read The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner, and then this whole thing we call evolution will make sense on the micro and macro level.

Review of 'The Selfish Gene' on 'Goodreads'

You may think you understand the theory of evolution, but if you’re like most people, you probably have profound misunderstandings about the theory. Reading this book will get you back on the right track. The theory of evolution still hasn’t been absorbed by consensus reality, and this is too bad, because it has a lot to teach us about who we are, what we’re doing here, and what the nature of life and our environment must be.

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