The Selfish Gene

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a book I have read 3 times now, the first time I read it was about 20 years ago, it was heavy going then for me. I read it a second time about a decade ago, I started to understand it more and I grew a spark of an interest in evolutionary biology, recently I read it last year and it felt like natures poetry, I absorbed very sentence and could understand it better. I have 3 copies of this book, a dog eared paper copy I bought 20 years ago, the hard back edition I got to look tidier on my book shelf and more recently the large extended hardback edition which had more materials added. The Selfish Gene is a very well written book that shows how beautiful reality actually is, just in case you needed reminding but especially if you never realised. The book is designed to show you just how much more pleasing it can be to hear a truth than to hear a lie; in a sense the book could be the basis for a truly objective view of aesthetics. Dawkins seeks to dispel the myth that truth and science (as a process of achieving truth) are cold and uninteresting; he also explains why this myth can be so damaging especially in light of the fact that this myth is so obviously false. The main points of this book discuss how Selfishness and competition is at the root of all biological phenomena - nature as "red in tooth and claw and that there is no basic "dis-continuity" between humanity and other animals - humans are not qualitatively different from other animals however there is no ethical dilemma between this basic fact and the human desire for goodness - since descriptive and normative realities are intrinsically separate (what is and what should be are independent of each other) when this book first came out in the late 70s lots of readers were left with a certain sadness and depression about us as a species, I can remember feeling similar thoughts when I read it in the 90s, but after more experience in life I understand and can accept more with clarity the concept, for example, the fact that there might be a gene for lying is should not be in dispute after the lessons in life I have learnt from certain individuals. (I even understand my companion Parrot’s behaviour better and the evolutionally reasoning behind it due to this book) I do recommend this book, although it would be handy to have some knowledge beforehand in biology (Biopsychology would be perfect but who knows about this? I certainly never) It can be hard going at parts so have google ready to elaborate on points but you will become a more enlightened person for your troubles pushing through and give yourself an education.