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Summary: One of the niftiest metaphors ever
Review: In "The Selfish Gene," Richard Dawkins accomplishes the incredible: He creates an original paradigm for understanding evolution which is based on a false premise, yet nevertheless, which has astounding explanatory power. The false premise is the notion the genes can behave in a selfish (or unselfish) manner to begin with. Well, since genes are just sequences of DNA of a particular length, they are not exactly in a position to have a "self," much less to behave "selfishly." Yet, throughout the book, Dawkins use of language ascribes conscious, purposeful motives to these silent, unconscious pieces of organisms. Dawkins talks about "what a gene wants," or about "what a gene is trying to accomplish," or about "what is GOOD for the gene." Thus, the reader can imagine genes as supremely slow, yet effectual manipulators that build enormous robots (beavers, bacteria, trees, woodpeckers, humans...) in order to propagate their numbers through space and time. Of course, as Dawkins reminds us, the gene has no purpose. It is not "trying" to do anything. This language is just a conceptual tool. And if we wish, we can easily convert our rhetoric about "selfish genes" to the respectable language of natural selection. The respectable view is the view that genes that build critters with longer legs (or bigger wings, or more acute sense organs) will tend to survive and thus pass themselves on to new generations more successfully than those genes that are less effective at building survival machines. But when we use the "selfish gene" language, we have an amazing tool. This tool helps us to understand the evolution of the organism all the way from the primordial soup to the abundance of bafflingly complex life that exists today. Dawkins accomplishes quite a bit throughout the course of "The Selfish Gene." What can you expect if you read it? Well, obviously he puts forth his view of natural selection as roughly sketched above, albeit in much more detail (okay, and with much more eloquence). Dawkins then applies his methodology to various puzzles, causing much enlightenment along the way. He uses it to argue against group selection theory. He uses it to analyze the phenomenon of apparent altruism between kin. He uses it to explain the origin of the differential role of the sexes. And so on across many cool areas of biology. I would also thoroughly enjoy exploring the chapter on memes in my review. Are memes an alternative to genes as explanations for human behavior? Are memes deterministic? Do non-human animals have memes? I'm afraid that would quickly turn this book review into a philosophy treatise however. So I will refrain for now. To draw to a close, who should read Dawkins' book? The short answer is: everyone. It's that good.
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Summary: Read the book, not just the title
Review: This book was first published in 1976, and instantly became one of the classics of popular science. It stands as the best available introduction to modern evolution theory for the lay reader. Curiously, while the actual content of the book has been becoming more and more mainstream over the past twenty-odd years, the book itself has been acquiring a reputation for controversiality. My own feeling is that most of the critics cannot have ever read past the title. Dawkins makes it abundantly clear that the selfishness of genes is metaphorical. How anyone could have read the book and come away with the impression that Dawkins ascribes motives and attitudes to genes defies my understanding. The theories that Dawkins puts forward are utterly mechanistic, and entirely in accord with conventional genetics and molecular biology (which are indeed outlined quite clearly in the introductory chapters). Another misunderstanding (now fortunately less common) is that Dawkins predicts the selfish behaviour of all animals. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, 'The Selfish Gene' attempts to show how the forces of evolution give rise to [a limited degree of] altruism when they would seem, at first glance, to promote utter selfishness.
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Summary: Chicken or the egg ? It's the egg !
Review: Amazing book. It just about answers questions about the meaning of life and what came first, the chicken or the egg... Quite simply, this book is a must for any thinking person. Will stir up religious emotions and in fact, for me, makes religion altogether superfluous. It provides a totally credible explanation for our existence, our behaviour and reason for being. Dawkins is the Carl Sagan of biology !
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Summary: Very thought provoking!........
Review: .........a must read for anyone interested in science and evolution. Evolution, since Darwin, has been commonly understood to involve competition between individuals, with the more fit individuals being most likely to survive and reproduce. Now Dawkins introduces a new concept: that it is at the level of the gene that this competition and struggle for "survival" occur. Hence, the title, "The Selfish Gene". Dawkins does a marvelous job, as well, of supporting his thesis by even offering numerous potential counterpoints to his arguments and showing how his theory still holds and can explain seemingly unexpainable paradoxes that occur as genes pass from one generation to the next. Dawkins delves into how the "selfishness" of genes can explain basic animal behavior that we observe among species: from altruism, to sexual relations and reproduction, to aggression, cooperation, family size, and complex family relationships. His ideas are new, complex and logical. This book, I warn, may not be for those who do not already have a basic understanding of Darwinian evolution and at least some scientific background or at least a willingness to go back to some old high school or college biology textbooks. For those, like me, who are captivated by science, and particularly evolution, grab this book and read it!!! I promise that the ideas within have produced a page turner.
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Summary: Enjoy the clear text but buy it for the content.
Review: Reading Yehouda Harpaz' review, I realized that some people have trouble understanding Dawkins' ideas, apparently because they would rather confine evolution to a limited area -- the biology of animals -- and keep it from applying to humans, most especially to our minds. I'd like to express some of the ideas in Dawkins' book to entice you and clarify these misconceptions. 1) The central thesis is that genes act as if their intention was to selfishly help themselves spread throughout the gene pool. This is not because they have the ability to make decisions or are capable of being selfish the way a person could. It's simply that those that happen to act as if they had wanted to spread do spread, and they do so at the expense of the rest. This notion of apparent design from natural selection is the keystone of neo-Darwinism. 2) The idea of analyzing evolution by looking at how each individual gene spreads itself in the environment of other genes is not only clear but illuminating, solving problems that the organism-centered approach cannot. Remember, an environment consists of whatever circumstances, objects, or conditions one is surrounded by. That means that, just as it makes perfect sense to say that other people form part of each person's environment, it is logical that other genes form part of a gene's environment. A gene competes with other alleles -- alternative genes at its locus -- and often does so by cooperating with genes at other loci, as per Dawkins' rowing team analogy. 3) It's not that Dawkins ignores neurobiology, but that he supports the new understanding that there is neither biological nor cultural determinism for behavior, but rather development based on epigenetic rules. In other words, Dawkins denies the Standard Social Science Model of tabula rasa human nature, replacing it with a less extremist stance that is demonstrably true. As Steven Pinker makes very clear in _How The Mind Works_, humans are intelligent not because we are free from the instincts that drive other animals but because of our ability to use the mental organs that implement our instincts to solve general-purpose problems. 4) Dawkins does not in any way restrict cultural transmission to imitation. However, as his interest is in its neo-Darwinistic evolution, not mere transmission or random change, he focuses on the units of replication -- the memes -- that are naturally selected among. This is particularly interesting since it opens up the way to understanding the coevolution of genes and memes, as E. O. Wilson explains in _Consilience_. In summary, if you want to understand these issues, don't take Yehouda's word on this or even mine. Get the book and read it for yourself. Life is so much more interesting than anti-evolutionists would have you imagine, and Dawkins is so painfully clear that even the layman has to work hard to misunderstand him. He is, quite literally, a joy to read.
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Summary: HA! This is so funny!
Review: There are plenty of reviews here written about this book that well describe it's genius in ways that allow me to focus the amazon review reader to some rare review humor. Some apparently find the idea of evolution or more accurately it's implications less than appealing. While you will find some of the most entertaining reviews on this website among Mr. Dawkins readers, mainly in the "blind watchmaker" review section, allow me to highlight those readers who apparently thought Mr. Dawkins work was so outrageous they some how decided to read many of his works and review them on amazon. These can be found by clicking the "see all customer reviews" link at the bottom of the main page of each book and selecting view by 1 star reviews. With that said, this is nothing less than a five star book. I might point out that Mr. Dawkins is a scientist, a fact a biology graduate friend of mine from Cal Tech recently pointed out, not a writer of science such as Matt Ridley, who has some excellent books by the way, but a scientist who writes well and in my opinion brilliantly. Anyway, check those reviews and enjoy.
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Summary: i still think about this book
Review: this book has stayed with me for about ten years since i first read it. i recommend it to anyone who want to think about the mechanism of evolution and the basis of all life. this book will teach you that genetics is really very simple. it's all just the action of selection on organisms capable of passing on genetic material in an environment of limited resources.
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Summary: THE BEST POPULAR SCIENCE BOOK I HAVE EVER READ
Review: The Selfish Gene is the best popular science book I have ever read, PERIOD. In it, Dawkins provides clear explanations of the mechanism of evolution, to the point that the reader can teach someone about evolution right after reading. It does not in any way patronize the reader, but instead delves deep into complex subjects, ranging from game theory to psychology, to explain evolution. The main idea in the book is to change the perspective of evolution: it is genes that use bodies and organisms to reach their goals of reproduction. In my opinion, however, the most brilliant part of the book is the very beginning, in which Dawkins explains how it could come about that some chemicals (genes) actually would grow a "wish" to reproduce. The answer makes the reader feel really smart, and that is what pop science is all about. Much of the book is devoted to showing how evolution can in fact explain altruism, agression, aging, cooperation, sexual relations, etc. He spends a lot of time debunking the theory that animals act a certain way "for the good of the species". His argument is that animals have no want, it is the genes that want more of themselves available. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a wide open mind, a logical train of thought, and deep curiosity about life. Dawkins will change the way you see life, and he will hold your hand through the entire process, quenching your thrist for knowledge. It is written in such a simple way that it is hard to understand why this book is not recommended at high schools. Anyways, I hope you choose this book, it is one of those that make you sad to have finished.
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Summary: There is no Good and Evil....there is only the Selfish Genes
Review: The good things and bad things that people do are for the most part not based on morality.... for the most part humans do it to benefit the self wether consciously or unconsciously. We do altruism because in reality we expect that people would be altruistic in return. Now consciously, you might say that your not asking for anything back, but in reality, unconsciously you want the same kind of altruism to be done to you in return. "Good" and "Evil" are just words we put on actions based on morality, but those are just manifestations of the intentions of the Selfish Genes to benefit itself. True altruism seldom happens. Selfishness is the rule rather than the exception. Which shows what humans truly are.
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Summary: Fascinating
Review: Amazing book. The reason I really like it is that it reaches the same conclusion scientifically as I had reached as a layman, philosophically (know that sounds pretencious but don't give a stuff). Read it and think about it. It will change your outlook on life...
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