The Selfish Gene

More than thirty years ago, when I was conducting research on the psychology of altruism and moral development, a biologist recommended that I read The Selfish Gene. 

Reading Dawkins’ book caused me to change my theoretical orientation completely.  It enabled me to see that if I wanted to understand altruism and morality, I needed to understand how the genes that guide the construction of the mental mechanisms that cause us to help others evolved. 

Although the title of the book implies that we are selfish by nature, the contents explain how selfish genes can guide the development of unselfish… show more.

This book is a classic for understanding how to think about human nature in evolutionary perspective.

But in later editions, Dawkins lamented that many critics did not even read past the title – presuming that the book recommended being as selfish as you possibly could.

Although our genes are selfish, our ancestors survived by frequently being very cooperative with one another, and people who always put themselves first often end up being rejected by others (ironically, decreasing the success of their selfish genes).

Dawkins even added an extra chapter to later editions arguing that nice guys finish first. So although… show more.

I was familiar with the theory of evolution when I read this book several decades ago, but it deepened my understanding, and I also liked Dawkins’s writing style. The most impactful insight was the role of spontaneous replication. As humans we replicate with a purpose, but that does not diminish the impact of purposeless replication of the simpler units that make us, such as our genes. The book explains how spontaneous replication of random mutations results in the dominance of new organisms that are better adapted to a changed environment. This insight and my familiarity with physics and math helped me… show more.

An all-time classic in popular science, the reference for approaching evolution and (bonus point) the first book to introduce the term “meme”. The Selfish Gene comes from the late 1970s but has many hints to understand contemporary biology, epidemics, and even, well, memes.