The Selfish Gene

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Summary: Dawkins at his best
Review: Pseudo-intellectuals be warned. Anyone not prepared to give up some middle-age concepts about how the real world functions should go back to the sew-age section and indulge themselves in what ever mindless fantasy is currently fashionable. Dawkins scientifically, that is to say using common sense, explains the myriads of mysteries about what we are and what we come from. You may disagree with him on some points, but to dismiss him entirely is foolhardy. This provocative book pushes the bounds of understanding while remaining firmly grasped in real world. Sadly, made evident by some of the accompanying reviews, as gifted of an explainer Dawkins is, the close-minded probably won't benefit from his genius. Dawkins put it best, Eastern flying carpets don't fly, Western 747's do. This book's got wings

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Summary: The Selfish Gene - The Swan Song Preen
Review: Science reaches the zenith of its ignorance with this incredulous work. Western Science made some bad left turns at its start (in the Middle Ages when the Catholic Church was such a force) and has never veered back on course since. This is all well explained by Harman & Rheingold in HIGHER CREATIVITY. Basically, the achilles heel of Western Science is its foundation in Newtonian Physics. This is a mechanistic view of the universe ... and by that very nature, also a dead one. So just as actors sing their swan song near their stage exit, so Western Science preens about its knowledge near the end of its age with books like The Selfish Gene. Evolution is something Western Science has done a lot more speaking of than actually doing. And so its demise (as it currently operates) is near at hand. For a more enlightened view of what's really going on in the universe, and where Science will evolve to (once all its dinosaurs disappear), try "The Dancing Wu Li Masters: An Overview of the New Physics" by Gary Zukav. Or "The Tao of Physics" by Fritjof Capra. You'll be glad you did!

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Summary: Reveals the foundation for all evolving systems. Excellent.
Review: Anyone who has a background in mathematics and knowledge of the phenomenal dexterity of Genetic Algorithms will find this book very entertaining. When one realizes the basic premise - all replicating enitities are optimization systems - one can better understand the behavior all such systems. A revised edition should be produced geared toward the education of high-school students. Final note: Genetic Algorithms (and selfish genes) actually imply the existence of God via the inevitable self-optimization of an infinite system given an infinite time frame.

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Summary: Love it or hate it, this book will not leave you untouched.
Review: Richard Dawkins is a model of clarity and passion. He also has a breath-taking story to unfold - the blind and remorseless march of the DNA molecule across our planet and its remarkable by-products: life. The result is a book that hit me with the force of revelation and has enticed me to read a great deal more. Make no mistake about it, this is a challenging book. Dawkins confronts you with the full force (and glory) of the Theory of Evolution; the idea that nature is geared around the uncompromising self-interest of self-copying programs, and the discussion supporting it, take some digesting. Dawkins would insist that it is not a book that should make converts - a convert believes but does not require evidence. Yet converts it makes. Because Dawkins also sets about its detractors unabashed, it also draws more than its quota of vitriolic rejection. Sadly, most of the negative reviews I have read betray only emotion and, in many cases, poor understanding of Dawkins' central theme; Dawkins - and the theory of evolution - deserve greater respect.

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Summary: The evidence is culturaly biased and manipulate.
Review: Dawkins presents evidence and then shows what he calls mistakes that actually do more to disprove his thesis. The validity of his thesis is questionable and it seems to be more manipulated than actuall occurance. Dawkins takes what he already knows, ideas that have been indoctrinated in him since birth, by society, and then finds evidence that is that way. He presents his evidence in an unclear way that makes the reader look more into the subject. Upon a more careful and anaylitical reading the flaws appear much larger than if he had not provoked such thoughts form the reader

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Summary: Our true "replicons" - our "Memes"
Review: Dawkins gives a compelling answer to the questions "What are we?" and " Why are we here?". He makes a powerful argument for us to leave behind our "true genes" - our "memes" using sociology, biology and game theory! Definitely a must-read

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Summary: Mostly recommended.
Review: This is an exciting and wonderful book. Read this book to get a more realistic (rather than poetic) point of view of this world. I don't agree with every word of this book but with the majority of it I do. It can answer many questions as: why do we behave like we do? why do we look like we do? and, limited by your own imagination, much more. The author was wise enough to deal with the opposition to the ideas presented. I'm sorry to say that many of those who oppose him didn't understand the full meaning of what this book is about. It gave me a new bright perspective of the world around us. Mostly recommended.

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Summary: Read Dawkins in the way Copernicus read Ptolemy
Review: Dawkins admits he settled on the title of his book "The Selfish Gene" more for the "ring" than the "thing". By the time that he disclaims any attempts by anyone to use his thesis for making biological arguments for AynRandism, he's grown quite a formidable beard upon his intellectual face that might well benefit from some ministration by logical soap and a well strapped Occam's razor. If one buys into the mechanomorphic universe -- brainlessly -- one might be impressed by his contortion and nowhere moreso than in his concept of "meme" (rhymes with gene). Why does he make the "gene" the fundamental unit of survival rather than the carbon atom, and why the "meme" instead of the "phoneme". No -- not only is his thesis counter intuitive, it is practically irrelevant. Primates associate -- and those that never do, die before reproducing. Why he has to make this philosophical point about altruism is beyond me. It is a red herring whose stench just worsens with time as more and more people seek to legitimate anti-social behavior. It would have sufficed had he asserted simply that it tends to be in the enlightened self-interest of individuals to form adaptive, synergistic groups. But, then he wouldn't have been able, really, to advance his notion of the "meme" (rhymes with gene). This is one for the Eugenics Bookshelf.

Rating:
Summary: Read Dawkins in the way Copernicus read Ptolemy
Review: Dawkins admits he settled on the title of his book "The Selfish Gene" more for the "ring" than the "thing". By the time that he disclaims any attempts by anyone to use his thesis for making biological arguments for AynRandism, he's grown quite a formidable beard upon his intellectual face that might well benefit from some ministration by logical soap and a well strapped Occam's razor.

If one buys into the mechanomorphic universe -- brainlessly -- one might be impressed by his contortion and nowhere moreso than in his concept of "meme" (rhymes with gene). Why does he make the "gene" the fundamental unit of survival rather than the carbon atom, and why the "meme" instead of the "phoneme".

No -- not only is his thesis counter intuitive, it is practically irrelevant. Primates associate -- and those that never do, die before reproducing. Why he has to make this philosophical point about altruism is beyond me. It is a red herring whose stench just worsens with time as more and more people seek to legitimate anti-social behavior.

It would have sufficed had he asserted simply that it tends to be in the enlightened self-interest of individuals to form adaptive, synergistic groups.

But, then he wouldn't have been able, really, to advance his notion of the "meme" (rhymes with gene).

This is one for the Eugenics Bookshelf.

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Summary: Selfish Gene is the most influential book I've ever read.
Review: This is a GREAT book. You won't know who you are until you've read it. After you've read it, you'll understand a lot about why organisms (including you) do what they do. The basic premise is this, you're a machine for making copies of your genes, your genes will make you do whatever they have to in order to insure that copies of them are made. Genes that don't make organisms do this are extinct. It's almost a tautology.