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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
A very interesting book.
Such a simple difference, the thing that natural selection affects is not the survival of a species, or a family, or a group, or a kingdom, or even an individual, it is in fact a gene. That is the unit.
Specifically alleles are competing in the gene pool.
This small difference between what is taught in school and what is accepted by biologists today, is deceivingly small, but has overarching effects that change the way you understand the world around you.
All the ideas presented here, all the things that are explained when you've changed your perspective to understand this fact, give me the feeling that I get when reading science fiction, this weird ineffable feeling of something being so cool and so foreign to me.
This change in perspective is important to understand things like altruism, once you understand the gene as a unit you can understand the maths involved that allow genes to survive over evolutionary time, and how things like altruism, selfishness, aggression, sex, child caring and bearing of children, and a myriad of other stuff work.
Very interesting things develop, like an allele for not fighting your eventual demise if you're the runt of the litter, even though it seems counterintuitive with my previous understanding of natural selection. Since you are just a copy, and your family sideways and upwards have your genes (and that is the unit remember) then it's beneficial (and over thousands and millions of years, has come to be) for your genes, that if you are in the unfortunate situation of being the runt, that you allow death to come, not to kill yourself mind you! Just to wait patiently in case you have good luck and can survive somehow, but importantly to be meek enough that you do not take resources from your siblings or parents, this balance has to strike so that you don't hinder your genes ability to replicate itself. The notion of the individual as a unit in natural selection gave way to this idea of "save yourself any way you can, you need to replicate" but now, it becomes a much more complex equation involving your ability and perception of your strength, your family, and the environment, and what best suits you or other vehicles that may carry your genes.
The part where he talks about social insects, bees that are born to be of the infertile caste, that are born to be used as fodder if harder times come, The maths that go into insects "wanting" to help their monogamous mother birth siblings rather than having offspring themselves, because it would be more beneficial for the genes in a quantitative way.
All these things are so interesting
The fact that genes are immortal!
We're just fleshy survival machines for the immortal replicators!
The fact that he created the word meme! The cultural gene.
Ahh to be an immortal coil, swimming in the primordial soup!
Such a simple difference, the thing that natural selection affects is not the survival of a species, or a family, or a group, or a kingdom, or even an individual, it is in fact a gene. That is the unit.
Specifically alleles are competing in the gene pool.
This small difference between what is taught in school and what is accepted by biologists today, is deceivingly small, but has overarching effects that change the way you understand the world around you.
All the ideas presented here, all the things that are explained when you've changed your perspective to understand this fact, give me the feeling that I get when reading science fiction, this weird ineffable feeling of something being so cool and so foreign to me.
This change in perspective is important to understand things like altruism, once you understand the gene as a unit you can understand the maths involved that allow genes to survive over evolutionary time, and how things like altruism, selfishness, aggression, sex, child caring and bearing of children, and a myriad of other stuff work.
Very interesting things develop, like an allele for not fighting your eventual demise if you're the runt of the litter, even though it seems counterintuitive with my previous understanding of natural selection. Since you are just a copy, and your family sideways and upwards have your genes (and that is the unit remember) then it's beneficial (and over thousands and millions of years, has come to be) for your genes, that if you are in the unfortunate situation of being the runt, that you allow death to come, not to kill yourself mind you! Just to wait patiently in case you have good luck and can survive somehow, but importantly to be meek enough that you do not take resources from your siblings or parents, this balance has to strike so that you don't hinder your genes ability to replicate itself. The notion of the individual as a unit in natural selection gave way to this idea of "save yourself any way you can, you need to replicate" but now, it becomes a much more complex equation involving your ability and perception of your strength, your family, and the environment, and what best suits you or other vehicles that may carry your genes.
The part where he talks about social insects, bees that are born to be of the infertile caste, that are born to be used as fodder if harder times come, The maths that go into insects "wanting" to help their monogamous mother birth siblings rather than having offspring themselves, because it would be more beneficial for the genes in a quantitative way.
All these things are so interesting
The fact that genes are immortal!
We're just fleshy survival machines for the immortal replicators!
The fact that he created the word meme! The cultural gene.
Ahh to be an immortal coil, swimming in the primordial soup!
replicators, skipping like chamois, free and untrammelled down the generations, temporarily brought together in throwaway survival machines, immortal coils shuffling off an endless succession of mortal ones as they forge towards their separate eternities.
It was a good read. Gave insight on different species gene.
informative
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
I love Richard Dawkins but I, personally, am not a great fan of his writing style.
Dawkins provides clever and clear explanations of evolutionary processes. Highly recommended for even those, like me, who thought they understood how evolution works.
informative
reflective
slow-paced
slow-paced
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced