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The Selfish Gene

Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The Selfish Gene. Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had since Mendel's work was rediscovered, we turn it around and imagine that "our" genes build and maintain us in order to make more genes. That simple reversal seems to answer many puzzlers which had stumped scientists for years, and we haven't thought of evolution in the same way since.

Why are there miles and miles of "unused" DNA within each of our bodies? Why should a bee give up its own chance to reproduce to help raise her sisters and brothers? With a prophet's clarity, Dawkins told us the answers from the perspective of molecules competing for limited space and resources to produce more of their own kind. Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved the way for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced the concept of self-reproducing ideas, or memes, which (seemingly) use humans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, at least we can try to understand our strings. --Rob Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Thank you!

@straptus - What is actually wrong with Gigasize? Same sh*t like RS, you click, you wait 30 sec, you get the file.

Thanks sanjayaone.

Here is my booklet version for easy printing. (118 pages, 1 MB):

Selfish Gene: As invented by the selfish ego of the biologist and rabid atheist Richard Dawkins, represents a genetic structure (let's call him Gene) who will not share his DNA with anybody, thus insuring that he will merrily and selfishly reproduce just himself. Dawkins followed up on the Selfish Gene with a whole series of anthropomorphic constructions such as the Hungry Tummy, Horney Hooter, Itchy Foot, and Bob the Wagging Tongue.

A Long Ignorant Monologue: As written by the closed-minded ego of zlizer, a myopic monotheist.

There's a reason he's selling books and you haven't even written one. For one, he's got his facts a lot more in order than you do.

Whether I am ignorant or not or have I written one or not or his articles are facts or fiction. The fact is they appeal to gullible people with morbid ego and you are one.

@zlizer: "rabid atheist"? this is something new in my vocabulary. :)

Dawkings in another book said that "no atheist would go to a war in the name of atheism", and I completely agree.

Weren't Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot atheists?

Weren't Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot atheists?

Weren't Chingiskhan and Hitler religious?

Religious/atheist division doesn't imply peaceful/warlike or moral/immoral. Please look for other causes in men (or around him) to kill and destroy.

I've read a half of this book and found Dawkings' view on humans as solely 'survival machines' really disappointing and provoking. He could be less passionate about his own ideas.

The facts in this book are nice and fascinating, like any scientific truth. It is their interpretation that can disappoint the reader, but luckily, interpretation validity fades out as we look further into the past and future, and of course, in the light of other facts.

Feeling need to soft the impression left by the book, I found the following nice paragraphs from the Genome Project papers:

"As we enter a genomic era in medicine and biology, perhaps the greatest danger I see stems from the enormous emphasis placed on the human genome by the media. The successes of medical genetics and genomics during the last decade have resulted in a sharp shift toward an almost completely genetic view of ourselves. I find it striking that 10 years ago, a geneticist had to defend the idea that not only the environment but also genes shape human development. Today, one feels compelled to stress that there is a large environmental component to common diseases, behavior, and personality traits! There is an insidious tendency to look to our genes for most aspects of our "humanness," and to forget that the genome is but an internal scaffold for our existence.

We need to leave behind the view that the genetic history of our species is the history par excellence. We must realize that our genes are but one aspect of our history, and that there are many other histories that are even more important. For example, many people in the Western world feel a connection to ancient Greece, from which arose fundamental features of Western architecture, science, technology, and political ideals (such as democracy). Yet, at best a tiny fraction of the gene pool of the Western industrialized world came from the ancient Greeks. Obviously, this fact in no way diminishes the importance of ancient Greece. So it is a delusion to think that genomics in isolation will ever tell us what it means to be human." [http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/291/5507/1219]

That paper also argues that genome literacy can teach us how to get rid of racism, cruelty towards animals, and some other bad habits. So, everything gonna be alright. :)

Please, leave your comments. ;)

Admittedly, the utopian teaching of genome literacy is good and noble but sadly it is not taking human race in that direction. Look at the world today, the woes of the world is ever

increasing not diminishing. Whether caused by religion or otherwise, the world is a sick place.

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