Word: selfishness
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...drooling Fay-Wray-hypnotised Kong. Give me Bad Company any day. But to get back to the unfortunately surnamed Mr. Bangs' image, I guess we're supposed to believe that somehow heavy metal has become deader than any dodo, or at least lost its teeth, claws and selfish-gene nastiness and become a lumbering, well-meaning vegetable-eater with about as much magnetism as those scurrying, tree-climbing ancestors of ours busily devouring leaves and trying not to be devoured by beasts of the jungle. Brontosaurus indeed. Junk. And forget about Mr. Bangs because Bad Company has just brought...
...this is the main danger of the book. This is why Dawkins is incredibly irresponsible in the manner he treats the subject of genetics. He doesn't really believe genes are selfish, but a lot of people will believe it after reading his book. These are the people who will vote against welfare programs and refuse to believe anything can be done to eliminate social injustice. These are the defeatists who talk about human nature as though it were the Rock of Gibralter--completely controlled by genes with little environmental malleability...
...times Dawkins's book borders on absurdity. Since genes are selfish and so omnipotent, Dawkins queries, why don't they grab the reins and take complete charge over humans...
...THIS TYPE of writing that discredits The Selfish Gene. Dawkins gives the impression throughout the book that he is simply a nice zoologist who is attempting to simplify complex scientific data so more people can understand and appreciate it. But then he goes off on wild tangents, stringing together stupid analogies and speculating about the similarities between purine molecules and some futuristic society in Andromeda out of a science fiction novel he happened to find interesting. This type of rambling based on half-baked ideas that should have been kept in the oven doesn't exactly constitute the stuff...
...genes help determine our height and weight. This is obvious. But to extend the argument beyond its scientific base and conclude that there must be complex genetic traits for altruism and aggression in human beings is going one step too far, too soon. The problem with The Selfish Gene is that it plays around with a subject which is controversial enough when dealt with honestly and factually. When, in the last chapter, Dawkins finally acknowledges that humans can "rebel" against their "selfish" genes, he fails to erase the overwhelming implications of the preceding ten chapters, and the result...