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The Selfish Gene- Richard Dawkins

The most interesting book I have ever read till date.

The book is a beautiful journey of understanding how life might have originated and how life is the way we know it.

You get to read and know about a variety of things like social behavior, game theory, psychology and of course biology, with a touch of philosophy if you will. It explains the chemistry and race between prey and predator, male and female, sexual selection, altruistic behavior among individuals and groups, replicators for cultural transmission as in fashion, music and other evolving trends. Considering the entire community of social insects as a single organism with the sterile workers as the support cells and the queen as the reproductive cells- that was a beautiful way of explaining the theory of altruism.

The writing style is very elegant, interesting, witty just here and there. I would love him as my teacher because of the way in which he builds up my understanding from nothingness to the level of being able to understand the effect of genes on the environment outside of the body which carries it.

Lately , I have been losing my interest in fiction and have been more inclined towards reading non-fiction. (a sign of ageing, perhaps?) However, the day I opened The Selfish Gene, that was the day I officially said good bye to fiction. This work of non-fiction by Richard Dawkins is more interesting than the most interesting fiction you get to read.
And the most interesting part of it is that it is not fiction.That it is real. The intricate method of replication and transmission is real and not sci-fi.

Contrary to what religious groups fear, the selfish gene theory has helped preserve optimism in me. I sometimes wonder what would happen to human kind in this world of increasing pollution, population and the impending scarcity of resources. The Darwinian theory shows that there is always a way in which we evolve and be better. May it be in terms of extra filters for lungs to cope with the changing environment or changes to adjust with hard water, life will go on. The only thing which may come in the way of it is the most interesting feature of humans- free will. Richard Dawkins ends the book with the note that "We( Human brains) , alone on earth, can rebel against the tyranny of the selfish replicators". Maybe the future is indeed going to be a battle between replicators striving to make copies and free will striving for uniqueness.

Comments

sp said…
I am going to get this book! And you should like 'Dragons of Eden' by 'Carl Sagan'
deepthi said…
Thanks sp, for the suggestion. I will look for this book in the library next time :)

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