Hawkins richard. the selfish gene pdf

It builds upon the principal theory of George C. Ignorant of the long and rich history of religious thought, they commit an ideology, rather than a science. Keywords Neo-Darwinism.

If science, for Darwin, was a method of inquiry that enabled him to edge tentatively and humbly toward the truth, for Dawkins, science is an unquestioned view of the world. Richard Dawkins was one of the first researchers to develop ideas that have come to form the subject matter of Universal Darwinism.

The first edition of this novel was published in , and was written by Richard Dawkins. Selfish Genes and Social Darwinism Philosophy Universal Darwinism, as the term has been developed by Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett and Susan Blackmore, is the collection of scientific theories which explain the creation and evolution of their subject matter as due to the operation of Darwinian processes.

As … Abstract. Richard Dawkins coined the term universal Darwinism It suggests that the core Darwinian principles of variation, replication, and selection may apply not only to biological phenomena but also to other open and evolving systems, including human cultural or social evolution. His views on evolution and genetics widely misunderstood, Dawkins has been the target for a barrage of spurious accusations.

But there will also be differences. For example, the replicators may not be genes. Therefore, we share food with our relatives, no so much because they are our cousins, sisters, or close friends, but because our selfish genes want to support part of our genes. If there is a human moral to be drawn, it is that we must teach our children altruism, for we cannot expect it to be part of their biological nature.

Already a member? You can log-in using this link, here. See, I digest acres of complex ideas from various books and morph my findings into straight-to-the-point book summaries. The main goal is not only to help you understand the underlying ideas from famous, and not-so-famous, titles. But, also, to help you stay curious, inspired, and well-informed. Above all, though, I want to help you transition from a passive online consumer to an active mindful go-getter with a sense of purpose.

Read more about the membership, here. Abstract: Astonishing work that explains in plain language how evolution works and how our bodies are nothing else than mere vessels transporting our genes forward. The Core Idea: Though the book is called The Selfish Gene, the text unfolds something else — that actually altruism should be and in most cases is the driving behavior of all living creatures.

Highlights: The best way to transport your genes forward, except taking care of your body, is taking care of others around you. Our bodies are pre-programmed by our genes. The Selfish Gene argued that natural selection worked at the level of genes. Put simply, Dawkins was arguing that the gene was king in the process of natural selection and that individual organisms would sometimes sacrifice themselves in order to promote the passing on of the gene.

A parent would protect its offspring, even if it meant dying, in order to pass the gene down through the generations. What Dawkins achieved with The Selfish Gene was to extend existing arguments and put them into a language that most people could understand.

When it came to human beings, he argued that because of our intelligence, we could outthink the process and resist becoming a slave to the all-powerful gene. The human being could—uniquely among organisms—act rationally rather than by instinct. The main importance of The Selfish Gene lies in the fact it was so popular. It sold millions and was made into a documentary. Even though its key idea was not original, Dawkins brought it to the general public and became associated with it.

He is now considered one of the most influential evolutionary biologists and thinkers. The kin selection theory that Dawkins wrote about in The Selfish Gene became very influential. More recently, though, scientists have generally become more pluralist, in that they believe natural selection is working on more than one level. They believe that as well as genes driving the process of evolution by natural selection, individual organisms and groups of organisms also have their part to play.

The Selfish Gene was not only important for evolutionary biologists. Evolution is interesting to him because of the idea that if humans are basically robots for passing genes down the generations, how can we have free will? Do we not just have to do what our genes command? In later editions, Dawkins made it clear that this was a misunderstanding—selfish behavior and selfish genes are not the same thing and that the selfish gene can actually promote unselfish, or altruistic, behavior.

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