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Product Details
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; 30th Anniversary edition (May 25, 2006)
More than a quarter-century after its first publication, Richard Dawkins's "The Selfish Gene" remains a classic of popular science writing. This edition includes two new chapters as well as extensive endnotes that do much to perfect the original text and correct the few mistakes that were found in it. "The Selfish Gene" is explicitly directed at the layman, and absolutely no knowledge of biology is assumed. While this presents a danger of boring readers (such as myself) who are already familiar with DNA and meiosis, the colorful metaphors Dawkins uses throughout the book do much to keep the reading engrossing and entertaining. After a lengthy exploration of basic biology, covering topics such as DNA and the origin of life, Dawkins introduces the gene-centered view of evolution that has long been textbook orthodoxy. Dawkins uses the remainder of the book to look at various types of animal behavior in an effort to convey some general conclusions and tools to help the reader understand evolution and natural selection. Much of his effort is devoted to explaining behavior in terms of the 'selfish gene' - especially social behavior that has long been held to have evolved 'for the good of the species.' Dawkins shows that how fundamental axiom of natural selection (that the genes best at surviving and reproducing will eventually spread through the gene pool) leads directly to the selfish gene and the behavior exhibited by nearly all animals (humans being the prime exception). Many of Dawkins's metaphors have caused raised eyebrows - one outstanding example is his characterization of living things as "lumbering robots" built to protect the genes that hide in them - but the metaphors are always (eventually) brought under control.Read more ›
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I'm sad to say that this book was a disappointment. I have to imagine Dawkins' argument struck a more positive note when it was first published. There was still debate about the unit of selection -- gene, individual, or group, etc. -- so I can see how The Selfish Gene was a breakthrough. At the same time, with this book Dawkins committed a serious mistake by insisting on anthropomorphizing natural selection, using signifiers such as "altruism" and "selfishness" in an attempt to help readers understand his argument. The problem is that anthropomorphism is exactly how most people get it wrong. There is no "altruism" or "selfishness" at the genetic level of evolution by natural selection. There are genes -- and thereby traits -- that convey a higher likelihood of survival given the existing environmental conditions. There's no intent or directionality. There's no sense that genes themselves want to surivive. You could say it comes down to a kind of math equation. The genes that get passed down are those that happened to survive in greater number. The individuals (other than humans) who inherit those genes have no sense of altruism or selfishness for the sake of the gene pool. They exhibit the traits that happened to have survived. Why does a bee sacrifice itself to defend its hive? Because previous generations of bees who happened to sacrifice themselves defending the hive passed that trait to future generations. Dawkins certainly knew his rhetoric was flawed, as he offers numerous caveats that his phrasing is not to be taken literally, but unfortunately he couldn't resist what must have seemed like a most clever conceit -- the "selfish" (or altruistic") gene. Lucky for him, the book helped to cement his fame, but the muddle continues, leaving a wake of misapprehension behind it.
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Given the sloppy research and broad proclamations in Dawkins' more recent books (a tendency I'm tempted to attribute to arrogance, for a variety of reasons I shall not get into here), it is something of a shock to go back and read his older work, which, despite being a work of 'popular science,' is rigorous in its logic and actually contributed a great deal to changing the modern understanding of how evolution works in the long haul. People could debate all day about which of his books are the 'best,' but certainly nothing more provocative and influential has issued forth from his pen than his first work, The Selfish Gene. Even a cursory glance through the negative reviews here will serve as a testament to the power of its ideas: this book forces us to rethink so many of our fundamental assumptions about life, the universe, and everything (rest in peace, Douglas Adams!). Many people on here find the implications of the ideas on display here frightening, and perhaps even dangerous. This is to be expected: it provoked much wonderment and thought in me, a staunch atheist. I can't imagine how alien the world of the selfish gene must seem to the religious temperament. But I digress. Many of the positive reviews are VERY positive, and this is a cherished book for many people. My point here is, first, that the ideas introduced here are important, and, second, they're introduced very well.
It would be impossible for me to do justice to the ideas contained in this book, and so I won't even bother. But the fundamental argument and worldview of this book is worth discussing briefly, if superficially.Read more ›
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This item: The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition--with a new Introduction by the Author
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