Thoughts on the Selfish Gene

Disclaimer

I am in no manner experienced in this subject, but found this insight into genetics quite interesting, even to a casual reader. I’d love to talk about your opinions on this book in the comments below, especially if you have opinions I might have overlooked and/or counter arguments to the ideas elaborated in the book.

I am writing this not only to share a condensed, yet hopefully useful synopsis of the book and the “selfish gene theory”, but also to solidify my understanding by sharing and initiating a dicussion.

The Selfish Gene

The Selfish Gene is a 1976 book by Richard Dawkins, emeritus ethologist ¹ at Oxford. He originated the now wide-spread idea of the meme as a form of replicator like the gene.

Selfish Gene Theory

This idea declares living organisms as “survival machines” that spread “genes”