The Selfish Gene

– Richard Dawkins

The Selfish Gene is the first book of Richard Dawkins. The first edition was published in 1976, and the extended edition from 1989 contains two new chapters. Otherwise the book is unchanged, and the powerful content still holds tremendous insights to this day.

In this book Richard Dawkins brilliantly reformulated the theory of natural selection, and his theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology. If you want to understand the pillars of game theory for instance, I highly recommend reading this book. It has the ability to change how you view our human instincts, and how to best operate in the world together.

An excerpt from the book:

“– The power of a theory is what it explains, divided by what it is – “

The Selfish Gene explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene. The world of the selfish gene revolves around savage competition, ruthless exploitation and deceit, and yet acts of apparent altruism do exist in nature. Bees, for example, will commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, and birds will risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk.

Read. Reflect. Repeat.

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