Selfish Gene: 40th Anniversary Edition | 
pick“The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins, discusses and explains the selfishness of genes in their goals of survival and repopulation. At the start of the book, Richard Dawkins brings up the theory of the primordial soup — the origin of life, where life forms were first able to rise by feeding on the organic material within the primordial soup. Despite being simple microscopic creatures, competition between them was still very imminent.
Gabe.DeCastro The basic creatures were explained to be different from each other, with some having longer longevity than others, some with faster reproduction speeds, etc. With these differences, these simple lifeforms competed with each other; with the goal of populating and dominating the primordial soup. Billions of years of evolution later, and with the help of drastic environmental changes. 21h
Gabe.DeCastro The simple lifeforms became much more complex, creating their own survival machines (as described by Richard Dawkins) that help assist them in their goal of survival and reproduction. 21h
Gabe.DeCastro Later on in the book, Richard Dawkins begins explaining the main topic of the book, the selfishness of genes. The competition between the primordial lifeforms are still very present and is constantly happening, but is much more now much more complex due to increased diversity in the world. 21h
Gabe.DeCastro Later on in the book, Richard Dawkins argues that behaviours of organisms— such as altruism, cooperation, and competition with other species, are strategies that help creatures survive and pass down the genes they carry. Another thing later brought up were “memes”, the spreading of culture, words, phrases, etc. Richard Dawkins discusses about the similarities between the two and also talks about the differences. 21h
Gabe.DeCastro The theme of the book is nonfiction science, and is present throughout the story through the theories and explanations of Richard Dawkins. If you enjoy nonfiction science/biology books, then this book is perfect for you. As it provides many theories from many biologists, provides a new perspective on evolution, and gives clear explanations of ideas. 21h
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