Word: selfishnesses
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Richard Dawkins' new book, The Selfish Gene, rehashes, somewhat incoherently, conclusions drawn from studies showing the tremendous influence of genes on animal behavior. The main reason Dawkins's book has not been immediately shoved away to some dusty corner in Widener where only zoologists and rats would dare to tread is because Dawkins has added a spicy--and misleading--approach to the subject of genetics...
Human beings, Dawkins contends, are simply throwaway survival-machines for their immortal genes. Man is a gene machine: a robot vehicle, blindly programmed to preserve its "selfish" genes...
This perspective is simply a distorted one. Nucleotides and guanine molecules can't be selfish and they can't be cunning. Genes don't fight for survival. Genes couldn't care less whether they replicate or not. Different genes give organisms different traits. Some of these traits are conducive to survival and some are not. The genes that confer traits that help organisms survive and reproduce become more frequent in nature, but there is no such thing as a "selfish gene." What Dawkins is really writing about is natural selection--the nonrandom differential reproduction of particular genes. And the only...
...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...