The Selfish Gene Chapter Summary

1299 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Darwin Theory of Evolution

The Selfish Gene is a book by Richard Dawkins that encompasses the meaning of life by talking about natural selection and evolution. Richard Dawkins defines the process of passing genes down between all species as a “selfish” nature. Dawkins also writes about how there are things such as, the “replicators” and “gene machines” which explain how organisms of species are made and how they develop. Overall he makes points about genes and how they are passed down from generation to generation by ancestors who were good at what they did. Then those ancestors were able to reproduce and pass down genes to continue a long line of evolution. The discussion starts at his first chapter Why are people?, which during the chapter Richard Dawkins explains …show more content…

In the beginning of the book he talks about what the book was not going to be about and gave good guidelines overall. He was able to give good information about the topic with some other credible books and was also able to put some of his own insight towards the book. The audience that he seems to be targeting are college students and above because of how he went about talking about sections and the discussions he brought up. Being a high school student, there were some spots that would be hard to understand or areas that were slow and hard to keep attention towards. Though overall it was a good read and I would recommended to anyone that would be interested in genes and how they are passed down. As a result of this book, The Selfish Gene, a broader understanding of evolution and natural selection was brought to mind. Richard Dawkins was able to tie in some debate about the whole process and give great knowledge and insight about the topic of his book. He brought up good thought provoking discussion with the main ideas of “selfish” nature to continue existing. He also brought up different things known as “replicators” and “gene machines” that would explain how every organism that wanted to stay alive developed. All in all life is precious, so wouldn’t you be a little selfish to stay in

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Sharon Moalem's Essay Changing Our Genes

    1041 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bullying is a serious issue that can occur to various people of different age and background. It is considered a serious problem because of the long lasting health problems that comes with it. The many effects of bullying such as, depression and alcoholism can cause changes in our genes which can possibly be passed on to the future generations. In Sharon Moalem’s essay “Changing Our Genes: How Trauma, Bullying, and Royal Jelly Alter Our Genetic Destiny” he discussed about the effects of bullying on the victims and how it causes gene changes. It is important to know how to prevent bullying as the effects can influence a person mentally and genetically which can be passed on to future generations later on.

    Read More

  • Floyd Dell's Intellectual Vagabondage

    545 Words  | 2 Pages

    I loved its tone. Dell seems not to be showing off how smart he is, but is just a man concerned that he hasn't seen these ideas explained clearly, and thinks that a basic understanding of the subject makes life a little more comprehensible. The tone is that of a heart-to-heart talk between friends; he has some concerns he'd like to get off his chest, and thinks perhaps you'll profit from hearing them. I think the down-to-earth yet colorful style of the book attracted me even more than the subject matter. In so many ways I was taught in school that pretension was part of what made writing good; this was a beacon saying that there was integrity in stating things plainly and honestly as you saw them, and admitting that you don't know everything. A hard lesson to learn, and all the harder when your whole youth is about maintaining a false front for your own survival. (I grew up gay in Orange County, California, which at the time was a very homophobic place. Maybe it still is; I don't go back much.) I still reread this book every couple of years, and I wish I had more of its style. But then I'm not Floyd Dell and shouldn't try to be. And I admit after 20 years or so the book seems slighter than it once did.

    Read More

  • Howard Zinn's A Review of A People’s History of The United States

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    attempt to evoke an emotional response from the reader. He does make some good points

    Read More

  • American Slavery Book Review

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...y. He touched parts of the slaves' lives and what they really went through, but I don't think we even have a true idea of what it would have been in their shoes. The author presented the information in a very solid way and sectioned out very well. I understood what he was trying to explain easily. It was somewhat a long book but very much full of knowledge and history that in spirit is still alive today. We may not have slavery like it was then, but we still deal with racism and prejudices daily. The world changed because of slavery and is the way it is because of the history of America. We cannot change the past but we can change the future. Thank God the world is not the way it was. I cannot imagine what painful lives the slaves had to endure. But we can become knowledgeable about the history of slavery and America and learn from it in many different ways.

    Read More

  • The Language of Life by Francis S. Collins

    1413 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ok goes back and forth between factual writing and narrative making it really confusing. To add to the confusion there is a Glossary for “scientific words” which means if you do not understand something you will have to go back and forth pages. Most of the things touched in the book we have already discussed in classes like General Biology, Molecular Genetics and Bioanalytical Techniques. I feel the book is geared towards people with some degree of knowledge in Biology (like High School students) and an interest in Genetics and honestly society works now on instant gratification, why would I have to pay to hear the opinion of an incredibly accomplished old man when I can look up in the internet the opinion of someone maybe less ignorant than you and form myself an opinion based of someone else’s firm opinion.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Matt Ridley’s The Origins of Virtue

    968 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the wild and brutal game of life, the only measure of true success is whether genes are passed on. Like any other animal, this measure of success measures man's success too. For all creatures, to survive is the chance at continuing a gene line, and it is this necessity to continue the line that is innately embedded in man and all other creatures.

    Read More

  • Why Darwinism Is Just A Theory?

    854 Words  | 2 Pages

    Keith Henson a writer in evolutionary psychology once said that “Evolution acts slowly. Our psychological characteristics today are those that promoted reproductive success in the ancestral environment.” Evolution was first introduced by a naturalist by the name of Charles Darwin. Darwin had written an autobiography, at the age of 50, On the Origin of Species (1859) explaining how species evolve through time by natural selection; this theory became known as Darwinism. “Verlyn Klinkenborg, who writes editorials and vignettes on science and nature for the “New York Times”” (Muller 706) questions Darwin’s theory in one of his essays he wrote called Darwin at 200: The Ongoing Force of His Unconventional Idea. Both articles talk about the theory of Darwinism, but the authors’ use different writing techniques and were written in different time periods. Darwin himself writes to inform us on what the theory is, where as Klinkenborg goes on to explain why Darwinism is just a theory. Today, evolution is still a very controversial topic among many. It comes up in several topics that are discussed everyday such as in politics, religion and education.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Genetic Engineering

    1177 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most controversial topics discussed in the world of medicine pertained to the topic of genetic engineering. Some doctors saw it as tool of world destruction, however many of them seeing it as a chance of potential cures and treatments. Charles Darwin first introduced this idea. In his first publication, The Origin of Species, he introduced the idea of survival of the fittest. He stated that evolutionary change was only possible due to the genetic variation between each generation, including the combination of different characteristics. In other words, he wrote that only those who had desirable characteristics, in terms of survival, would be able to pass down their genes. If two bred and possessed desirable characteristics, then the desirable characteristic would strengthen, modifying the genes. Darwin’s theories have been the base of many medical breakthroughs that contributed to genetic engineering. The idea soon influenced medicine, the idea of strengthening the healthy cells and isolating them from the unhealthy ones. The simple idea Darwin discovered had changed medicine as a whole. Today, doctors and scientists are able to manipulate genes in order to create new treatments and cures. Today, Darwin’s discovery changed and saved millions of lives around the world. Despite the fact that genetic engineering can have a negative impact on society, it was an important discovery due to the advancement in conventional medicine.

    Read More

  • Book Review Of Nixonland Sparknotes

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    This book was a good read for me, but I also read book reviews to help me keep track on what I am reading. These book reviews just made a better understanding of what I was reading.

    Read More

  • The Process of Natural Selection

    1714 Words  | 4 Pages

    Darwin states that this struggle need not be competitive in nature and also entails a species’ efficiency at producing offspring. Natural selection works not as an active entity that seeks and exterminates species that are not suited for their environment; instead, it retains variations that heighten a species’ ability to dominate in the struggle for existence and discards those that are detrimental or useless to that species. Stephen J. Gould explains the case of r-selection in which a species’ chances of survival are most reliant on its ability to reproduce rapidly and not on its structure being ideally suited for its environment. Gould’s example shows the beneficial results of perceiving natural selection not as something that changes a species in accordance with its environment but as something that preserves characteristics beneficial in the s... ...

    Read More

  • Deciphering Our Future: Cracking the Genetic Code

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    I chose the video” Cracking your genetic code” after i watched a bit of the intro. In this video it starts off talking about the future and to imagine what it would be like if we had our genetic codes and the risks our genetic codes may hold for our future. This video makes us think about what it would be like to have the technology to figure out what meds might or might not save our lives along with predicting any illness, disease or just to give us answers as to why things are happening in our bodies. We are then introduced to a little boy named andrew who has an illness nobody can figure out. They then go take a look at Andrews Genetic code by taking a blood sample where they process it and leave behind the genetic material called DNA.

    Read More

  • The Language Behind Dawkins’ Selfish Gene Theory

    1841 Words  | 4 Pages

    The metaphor behind Dawkins' theory can best be described by his opening statement: "we are survival machines-robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes" (Barlow 193). Dawkins links the natural behavior of unconscious bunches of nucleic acid (genes) to human behavior and personality by calling them "selfish." His use of this term conjures up the image of a separate individual, capable of making decisions to help its own good and disregarding our needs. By calling human beings "survival machines" and "robots," Dawkins suggests some serious moral implications regarding our existence. If we were just robots, it would seem that we would be no longer responsible for our actions, as people could attribute all evil to the gene programmers who created these robots. Also, if our primary purpose were to serve as a "survival machine" for something else, life would seem insignificant. John Maynard Smith writes that Dawkins' book is just about evolution, and "not about morals . . . or about the human sciences" (195). However, the attempt to disengage the selfish gene theory from its moral implications is seriously undermined by Dawkins' metaphors.

    Read More

  • Nature vs. Nurture - We are Influenced by a Combination

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    vs. nurture. I will also try to present the third, new-emerging approach meant to. solve the mystery of, “What is it that makes us who we are?” “Our genes make us. We animals exist for their preservation and are nothing more than their throwaway survival machines.”

    Read More

  • Essay On Natural Selection

    542 Words  | 2 Pages

    The term ‘Natural Selection’ was first coined by Charles Darwin in his book, ‘On the Origin of Species’ which was published in 1859. ‘Natural Selection’ is the process by which organisms having traits that empower them to modify to certain environmental pressures, climatic changes, competition for food, and rivalry for mates, will help them to survive and reproduce more than others of their kind and in this way ensures the prevalence of these advantageous traits in the subsequent generations.

    Read More

  • The Process of Evolution

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    Natural selection is based on the concept “survival of the fittest” where the most favourable individual best suited in the environment survive and pass on their genes for the next generation. Those individual who are less suited to the environment will die.

    Read More

More about The Selfish Gene Chapter Summary

Open Document