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The Selfish Gene

Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Category: Book

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

67 reviews
Sales Rank: 475

Media: Paperback
Edition: 3Rev Ed
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 0.9

ISBN: 0199291152
Dewey Decimal Number: 576.5
EAN: 9780199291151
ASIN: 0199291152

Publication Date: March 16, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Excellent 30th anniversary edition.

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - The Selfish Gene
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•	Paperback - The Selfish Gene
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Customer Reviews: Read 62 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Still great after all these years April 24, 2008
Despite being over 30 years old, this book is still a powerful and exciting account of how life, including humans, came to be. The examples and explanations (aphid & ant coexistence, fluke worms in snails) are breathtaking in their descriptions of the natural world, and could easily awaken an interest in zoology in the casual reader.

4 out of 5 stars

Love your genes! March 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I read this book about 10 years ago and it nearly ruined my life. It led me to reject virtually any fundamental goodness within myself (as given to me by my genes), purely because I considered it a `lie'. This wasn't Dawkins fault - his book is a good one - it was my own short sightedness. Don't fall into the same trap as I did.

When most of us self-observe, we look into a conditioned mind. We can't see beyond the myriad self-images that we've created of ourselves i.e. our ego(s). The original brain that you were born with was probably closer to `altruism' than you will ever see again. Our genes aren't stupid. They didn't get this far by actively seeking friction with other creatures; Dawkins' "memes" have caused the friction. As I remember, Dawkins uses memes at the end of the book as a rather weak "hey don't worry it's not all bad" type statement. Unfortunately, memes have thus far caused, more `selfishness' than the genes themselves.

I have an `unsuccessful' pay review with my boss. I get tense, stressed, angry and resent my boss. I come away feeling retched. Looking inside myself, it seems all this demanding must have been due to my selfish genes and their desire to preserve their existence. But taking the time to look a little deeper (which isn't easy), what I actually see is that my fundamental mind - as given to me by my genes - wants none of the situation. What it really wants is for me to not care a jot about money - it hates what I put it through for things it doesn't need.

Because it's so hard to see beyond our conditioning, much of the selfishness we see in ourselves is not a reflection of our genotype but of the dog-eat-dog world to which it has been subjected (aka. our phenotype). Human phenotypes nowadays have a level of `selfishness' many degrees beyond their pre-conditioned states. If you try to see beyond your conditioned self into what actually lies beneath, what you'll almost certainly find is that what your genotype craves more than anything is peace. And its needs for this are basic: food, water, love, sex, acceptable climate and I also suspect, in humans, the opportunity to express itself through creativity.

My point here is really that if, like me you're going to get all introspective, try to separate out what your genotype mind needs vs. what your phenotype (egoic mind) desires. It's tricky, but isn't it logical that our genes are more likely to be right about what our body requires for a happy life than the crazy world that we now live in? Once we start placing the needs of our genes first, the body and mind reach a previously unimaginable level of health, and can take on any challenge thrown up by this often blinded world.

1 out of 5 stars

Of historic interest only February 1, 2008
2 out of 21 found this review helpful

Perhaps it is appropriate that, with this 30th Anniversary edition, the views expressed by the author should be seen for what they truly are - well 30 years old and out of date compared with modern research.

If you want to read neo-darwinist propaganda, you'll find it here it bucket loads; recognise it for what it is, fiction.

The latest research in epi-genetics paints an entirely different picture; we are not the victims of our genes. Read The Biology of Belief if you want to read what is really going on.

5 out of 5 stars

Just read it December 18, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

The reading of this book should be mandatory for any minimally educated person. Just read it. It will be an epiphany.

2 out of 5 stars

The evolutionary fundamentalist November 30, 2007
2 out of 29 found this review helpful

Although Richard Dawkins writes extremely well, it seems to me that his arguments (and reasoning) in this book are as much a product of wishful thinking as any religious fundamentalist, except that where the religious fundy's faith is in God without proof, Mr Dawkins 'faith' lies with his version of evolution without proof, and, like all fundamentalists, he believes the matter to be proven. The jury is still out on the evolution versus creation, and as the 'missing link' has not yet been found, and according to many scholars, probably never will be, the wiser course surely is to remain 'a don't know'.

His book, The God Delusion, gave food for thought; this book, however, merely bludgeons the reader into submission.