Book Review on the Selfish Gene

The Selfish Gene, a popular science book which was first published by Richard Dawkins in 1976 was set to challenge the views and beliefs of scientists on natural selection; as stated in the introduction of this book. Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, science-writer and ethologist (Poythress,2019). He disagrees that the ‘’important thing in evolution is the good of the species.” but rather, it is all about the replication and the survival of the gene throughout generations. Even though Dawkins intended for this book to be read by anyone with an interest in biology (Poythress,2019) he avoided scientific terms, and used an informal, metaphorical style of writing instead.

As a general supporter of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, I found Dawkins writing to be an interesting take on this controversial topic.

In the first four chapters of the book, Dawkins gives us a basic background in molecular and biological science; the origin of the gene; using metaphors such as of the soup to describe how the early chemicals of the earth combined to form the building blocks of life.

Once he explains the gene concept, he describes how animal behavior may be influenced by natural selection. The ‘’selfish gene’’ theory is introduced. Dawkins postulates how every organism’s body is a ‘’survival machine’’ that genes created after millions of evolutionary years, to be used as their environment to survive and replicate. This manifests a number of selfish behavioral characteristics within the individual entity, for the benefit of the genes themselves. On the contrary, the author brings in altruism in this part of the book.

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Being altruistic is acting in a way that benefits other individuals.

Altruism may have a selfish side to it when it comes to its genetic function. For example, it may be of benefit to a certain species overall (on an evolutionary level) if a bird alarms his fellow kin about an approaching predator by sending out a loud alarm call, consequently sacrificing his own life as it is drawing attention to itself but saving many others in the process.

There is always going to be this conflict of selfishness versus altruism amongst humans too. The selfish gene weakens the importance of selfless behavior. As cited by Geher (2016), evolutionary psychologists who study prosocial behavior started a new movement which could be known as ‘’ positive evolutionary psychology’’. They focus on mainly four evolutions-based approaches to understanding, selfless behavior in humans. Briefly, these are; kin-selected altruism whereby people, mainly help those who share the same genes as they. Reciprocal altruism meaning we tend to help people who we think would return the favor. Multi-level selection as we help people who live within our groups and lastly, people tend to act selfless towards those we deem as attractive as they provide mating opportunities. (Geher, 2016). Throughout the book we understand that a few of our psychological adaptations do correspond to the selfishness explained; for example, aggression and fighting in the case of famine and competing for resources.

In the second part of the book, Dawkins introduces the cultural concept of ‘memes’ to distinguish between humans and other living beings. Memes are responsible for carrying cultural aspects of people such as religious leaders, to one’s children or followers or successors. It is as though he is not only trying to challenge what is known and believed about the idea of evolution, but also trying to challenge the minds of the religious readers. This is rather evident through the tone he uses when mentioning the ‘god meme’. Memes spread quicker than biological traits. They may also be used to promote altruism and reduce the concept of selfish genes, depending on how a particular meme evolved from a culture. In the last chapter, the author insists that memes should be considered just as active as genes and suggests that it through them, true altruism could be achieved amongst all of humanity; even though being altruistic does not come naturally to us.

Overall, I found The Selfish Gene an interesting and knowledgeable book. The constant analogies and metaphors made it easier to read and harder to forget what was being said as it felt more like a good fiction novel rather than scientific literature. Dawkins knows that his style of informal writing may be critiqued by experts in biology and that his use of ‘’the thinking gene’’ metaphor may be taken too literally, confusing the reader. Hence, he constantly reassures us that he is speaking allegorically. On the other hand, there were times where I felt as though Dawkins would go off at a tangent by making fun of other theories, such as group selection theories, which was rather uncalled for and unnecessary. I also did not appreciate his arrogant tone when it came to certain topics, such as when talking about the ‘god meme’ as previously mentioned. I think there is nothing wrong with challenging people of faith, but this is not the way to do it as it may put off the reader’s interest towards science instead of inspiring the reader through his work.

According to the Guardian Bookshop, The Selfish Gene is an international bestseller which has been translated into over 25 languages. It has been described as ‘’revolutionary’’ by some; and ‘’controversial’’ by others. A cited by Wade (2006), the biologist John Krebs wrote that ‘’what he does, is to reanalyse or reinterpret the findings of others with such excoriating rigor, depth and clarity that he uncovers new ideas and ways of thinking’’. Whereas Roger Highfield (2013) explains how ‘’… a small alliance of mathematicians and biologists who argue that the concept of inclusive fitness is fundamentally flawed – that it cannot explain altruism as observed in the animal kingdom.’’ Nevertheless, Richard Dawkins work sparks debates till this very day, indicating how influential this book really is on the scientific community.

Apart from biology enthusiasts, I think this book would be enjoyable to those interested in psychology as it developed theories in prosocial behavior and evolutionary psychology, philosophy and sociology students, as it is capable of captivating a wide variety of readers through its style of writing. I would recommend this book to anyone who would be interested in exploring several fascinating insights about his own existence in the world we live in.

References

1. Geher, G. (2016). The Selfless Gene. [online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201603/the-selfless-gene [Accessed 24 Jan. 2019].
2. Highfield, R. (2013). The Selfish Gene is losing friends. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/evolution/10506006/The-Selfish-Gene-is-losing-friends.html [Accessed 26 Jan. 2019].
3. Moves, T. (2016). The Selfish Gene by Dawkins: Summary & PDF – The Power Moves. [online] The Power Moves. Available at: https://thepowermoves.com/the-selfish-gene-summary/ [Accessed 24 Jan. 2019].
4. Poythress (2019). Biology Professor Publishes Book on Richard Dawkins. [online] Houghton College. Available at: http://www.houghton.edu/news-media/recent-news/biology-professor-publishes-book-on-richard-dawkins/1024/ [Accessed 24 Jan. 2019].
5. The Selfish Gene: 40th Anniversary edition. [online] Guardianbookshop.com. Available at: https://guardianbookshop.com/the-selfish-gene.html [Accessed 24 Jan. 2019].
6. Wade, N. (2006). Inspiring Evolutionary Thought, and a New Title, by Turning Genetics Into Prose. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/science/sciencespecial2/06dawk.html [Accessed 24 Jan. 2019].