"The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins Complete Summary

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"The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins Complete Summary

Hi there! The following is a complete summary and chapter summary of the Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. "The Selfish Gene" contains information that EVERY HUMAN should have an understanding of. I just finished reading the book from start to finish taking notes along the way of concepts, ideas, stories, action steps and questions that I found to be particularly valuable to myself in my current situation. This book quenched my thirst for these interests amazingly well and then some. Some of the concepts in this book are obviously controversial and may even seem slightly outlandish at first. But Richard Dawkins is a man of extreme intellect and analytical mastery. His logic throughout the book is very clear, solid and easy to follow. So without further ado let's get into the juice of: The Selfish Gene.

Introduction

We are all just a colony of genes, also to be thought of as survival machines, gene vehicles or "lumbering robots" created by and for the benefit of our genes. We are the vehicles and the genes inside of us are the selfish replicators seeking immortality. This is the same for all living organisms. Of course the genes are not really selfish in the sense that they have a consciousness. However, genes that survive and reproduce are able to live and increase their number, and genes that don't survive and reproduce are eliminated and no longer exist. Genes can therefore be thought of as having a selfish "desire" for immortality through survival and reproduction and as Dawkins states: "The predominant quality to be expected in a successful gene is ruthless selfishness".

What is a Gene?

A gene is NOT DNA and it is NOT a Chromosome. Richard Dawkins explains that a gene is somewhere between a Cistron, which is an extremely small segment of DNA that is is involved in producing proteins, and a Chromosome, which is a very long DNA molecule which contains hundreds or thousands of genes. A gene could be said to be a playing card or a page in a book and a Chromosome could be said to be a deck of playing cards or an entire book. Genes are the fundamental unit of natural selection because they are the most potentially immortal of all of the other known biological self replicating units (i.e. individual organisms, groups of organisms or even chromosomes because of their constant mutation and re-arrangement between sexually reproduced generations).

After this foundation has been established, this book is mostly a study of the biology of selfishness and altruism based on the Selfish Gene Theory.

Selfish Behavior in Nature

Richard Dawkins begins by presenting some examples of animals behaving selfishly in nature including:

• Female praying mantises eating the heads off of male praying mantises during copulation
• Black Headed Gulls eating their neighbors babies right out of their nests
• Penguins pushing each other into "unknown and potentially dangerous water" as test guinea pigs

Altruistic Behavior in Nature

He then gives several examples of animals who seem to be behaving altruistically in nature including:

• Small birds giving alarm calls to their flock when they see a predator, even at the risk of drawing attention to themselves.
• The parents of ground nesting birds who appear to predators as if they have broken their wing and distract the predator away from their nest at high risk to themselves.
• Gazelles who leap out in front of predators in order to distract them away from the heard in an act called "strotting"
• Kamikaze worker bee's stinging intruders and then dying
• Siblings, parents and children looking out for each other and helping one another to survive and reproduce.

Survival of the Stable

Richard Dawkins then introduces a principle called "survival of the stable". He explains that in nature things eventually finds a stable state and once something has found a stable state, it has a tendency to stay that way. This is the case of most species in a population. They have found an Evolutionary Stable Strategy (ESS) that allows their genes to survive in their current environment. The stable prevails.

The Chess Program Analogy

The reason your genes don't take control of your body is that they simply give the instructions. Dawkins gives the analogy of a chess program. A chess program is designed by the computer programmer and then it is "set loose" against a human or other computer as an opponent. The programmer no longer has any control over the outcome of the game. He simply designs and the releases the program to do as it will.

The "A for Andromeda" Analogy

This is another analogy for why genes function the way they do, based on the book "A for Andromeda" by John Elliot and Fred Hoyle. In this book, an intelligent society, 200 light years away from earth devises a plan to communicate with other intelligent civilizations across space. They reason that since it will take a very very long time to communicate with a distant intelligent society (with earth it would take at least 400 years just to get back a response from a message sent out) they came up with a solution. They devise a code that was then transmitted as a constant stream of data out into the universe. 200 years later the data is picked up by humans on earth. The signal is decoded and discovered to be a computer program. The scientists who discovered it then develop the program and find out that it contains instructions to build a more advanced computer with more advanced software. The government soon finds out about the project and takes over and the "Andromeda Computer" is build. They soon find out, however, that the Andromeda computer does not have completely altruistic intentions and soon begins controlling the minds of those around it. It also directs them to construct a new life form which eventually, with the computer's help, works to destroy the human race and take over the earth. The machine and the lifeforms created with it's assistance are soon destroyed by the main character and the story ends shortly thereafter. This whole story is a good example of how our genes work like the broadcasted signal from Andromeda to create us, their lumbering robot machines, to do their bidding.



The Bird Census Game

Some species of birds are known to gather into close knit flocks in late fall or early winter. When they are doing this, they are actually taking a census of their local population. They are each selfishly inspecting to see how many offspring they are capable of rearing in the coming breeding season. This however is a game that can have certain strategies employed that will result in a benefit to the genes of whichever individual employs them. One example is that a bird could try to make as much noise as possible to simulate to the other birds that there are actually more birds present than there actually are. This may cause some birds to underestimate the number of potential offspring they can rear in the coming season. If a bird in this situation were to employ this strategy effectively, it could reasonably expect that other birds may be fooled and it can expect more resources available to it's own offspring in the coming breeding season. This will then increase the genes in that population of birds in the coming season who are capable of employing this strategy. This is seen in the actual populations that the noises made by these birds are indeed very loud during this "census gathering" every season.

The Selfish Gene Explanation for Why Women Have Menopause

Most children contain exactly 1/2 of the genes of each parent and most grandchildren contain exactly 1/4 the genes of each grandparent. Women have menopause because after a certain point in their lives, it is no longer beneficial to their genes for them to have any more children, either on purpose or by accident. After a certain period of time, it is more difficult and the risks are greater for a woman to conceive more children. (This ends up usually being around the age of 50 in modern human females). Because a woman's grandchildren contain 1/4 of her genes and her children contain 1/2 of her genes, it would be in her genes best interest to use her remaining resources to take care of any children and grandchildren whom she may already have than to risk having any more of her own. This is the best strategy for her genes because they can better ensure the survival of the genes already present in her children and grandchildren who expect to live longer than any she could conceive after a certain point.

The Blackmail Tactic in Birds Nests

It is believed that some birds actually screech loudly in the nests so as the parents feed them before predators hear them and come to the nest to eat them and their siblings. This is in a sense blackmailing their parents with the threat of having their whole brood eaten including the blackmailing screaming chick so as to be fed quickly and sufficiently.

The Baby Honeyguide

The honeyguide is a bird who's behavior is very similar to the cuckoo in that it lays it's eggs in the nests of other birds. The baby honeyguide however is different than the cuckoo in that it is actually born with a sharp hook on the end of it's beak which, after hatching from it's egg, will instinctually and unconsciously use to slash away at and effectively kill any foster siblings of the actual parents who have hatched into the nest before or shortly after themselves. The baby honeyguide then has the foster parents attention and resources all to itself.



Female Gametes Vs. Male Gametes

Female gametes (eggs) are much larger than the male gametes (sperm) in humans. This is because they contain much more resources for nourishing a developing embryo. This can be seen as the basis of why females are mostly seen as the sex who carries the burden of child rearing while males typically show less of an investment in the process. Males usually do less work than females in the child bearing and rearing process and are also more likely to leave the relationship.

The First Desertion Strategy

If a mating relationship is going downhill and about to end, and offspring have already been born, who will desert first? The Male or the Female? Whomever deserts first leaves the other with the burden of deciding to raise the offspring left with them (who should contain 1/2 of their genes unless there was any "sleeping around" on the part of the female) or should the parent left with the deserted child also desert the child (to death or adoption) and seek reproductive opportunities elsewhere? The strategy is rarely used but sometimes observed in nature and could in fact be a useful (but risky) reproductive strategy. When this strategy happens very shortly after birth it is also sometimes called "The Cruel Bind Strategy".

The Domestic Bliss Strategy

The domestic bliss strategy is when a female will test a male to make sure that he is capable of faithfulness, persistence and the ability to raise a family well. This is usually seen when a female is coy in order to test the male. The female basically gets the male to invest heavily in their relationship before copulation to ensure loyalty.

The Bruce Effect

If a female mouse is abandoned and another male mouse comes to court her, some species of male mice will actually secrete a chemical that causes the pregnant female mouse to abort her litter. This is called the Bruce effect. The reason why this happens could be that the male will simply eat her young anyways when they are born and she will have wasted all of the time and resources in producing a litter of mice destined for a dinner. However, if she were instead to abort that litter she will be able to produce with the new male and have a litter successfully born and probably successfully raised also. This somewhat similar behavior is often seen in Lion prides when a new male or troupe of males take over a pride and eats the young so as to make room for their own children to be born in the pride.

The He-Man Strategy

The he-man strategy is a mating strategy found in nature in which the females basically resign themselves to getting no help from the father in child raising and end up choosing males just for their reproductive value (their sexiness, power, status in hierarchy etc.) The best of the best males (as determined by the females) are usually the only ones who do the copulating in the population and usually maintain a large harem of females. This is typically an all-out battle for gene quality in the males.



Sexual Selection

In nature (and as Darwin observed), natural selection (the survival of the fittest) is usually trumped by sexual selection (the survival of the sexiest). This should make intuitive sense since a collection of genes that produces an individual that can live for an extremely long period of time (by defeating enemies, good health, power etc.) will still perish unless that same individual produces offspring. It is therefore seen that the most desirable trait that an individual can posses is sexual attractiveness. Sexual attractiveness is a placeholder phrase for almost any trait that leads to that organism reproducing. There are of course other ways that an individual could re-produce in nature (i.e. rape) but that is typically less effective in the long term for that organisms reproductive success (because the rapist is usually punished by the group, the child is aborted, or other higher status males will kill the offspring and drive the rapist away or kill him).

What Typically Makes a Male Animal Sexually Attractive

So what makes a male sexually attractive? Some strategies observed in nature include "displayed extravagances" such as a peacocks tail, bright colors or a beautiful song. This strategy is also sometimes called "handicapping" in which the individual is equipped with a visible disability and is "challenged" to show their fittness by exhibiting that visible inhibitor and still surviving with ease. Some other examples include the antlers on a deer or elk, which can take a huge amount of resources and risk to create and manage, the peacocks tail is challenging for the same reasons. Another similar term used is the "sexual ornament" which could be something that the creature displays that is an honest representative of that creatures fittness (i.e. their competence, health, strength, intelligence, potential, etc.) A sexual ornament that you are probably very familiar with has been suggested to be the human brain itself. What else could explain our creation of art and music? It is a fascinating subject and more information can be found by reading The Mating Mind by Geoffrey Miller

Symbiosis (or Mutualism) in Nature

Symbiosis or mutualism is the cooperation of two different species of organisms for the benefit of both. It is seen in many ways in nature. A few examples listed in the book are:

• Ant colonies that "farm" aphids similar for their nectar similarly as humans farm cattle for their milk.
• Ant colonies that farm a certain type of fungus under the ground in their colony to help them break down organic matter (mostly leaves) for them to digest.
• Cleaner fish who clean the mouths of larger fish.

Evolution

Evolution occurs for the good of the gene (and indirectly the carrier) and not for the good of the species. Cultural and genetic evolution happens in spurts between stable plateaus. All of life (including the possible lifeforms on other planets) evolves by the differential survival of replicating entities. Genes are not conscious purposeful agents, however blind natural selection often makes them appear so.

Nice Guys Finish First - Ethics in Nature

Several games were set up by computer programmers in which certain virtual "players" were given (programmed with) strategies to use against other players. Some of the strategies were considered to be "mean" strategies such as "take from the other players every time". Other strategies were considered to be "nice" strategies such as "give to the other players every time". Most of the players were programmed with a hybrid of the two strategies or simply given the "random choice" strategy. The game was played like this: If two players both decide to give to one another, they both benefit by say +20. If they both decide to take from the other, they are both hurt by say -20. If one player takes from the other and the other player gives to the other, the player who did the taking will benefit by say +10, and the player who gave to the other will be hurt by say -10. This was considered to be one "round" of the game. Multiple rounds were played in each game with multiple players with different strategies placed against other players with other strategies. After each pairing was played the results, or total score of each game was tallied up and the best and worst strategies were discovered.

The Superior Strategy

Other variations of this game was played with slight tweaks in the structure of the scoring and rounds but in all the different games a primary strategy was found to be superior. This strategy was called "tit for tat". The strategy tit-for-tat goes something like this: The player using tit-for-tat starts by being open to give, or "share" with the other player. However, if the other player in any round decides to take from the player using tit-for-tat, then the tit-for-tat player will then punish the "taker" by taking from him in the next round. The tit-for-tat player then forgives the taker in the next round and is willing to share again. Therefore it could be said that the tit-for-tat player is capable of taking, but does so only for retaliation purposes. A player who uses Tit-for-Tat is characterized as being generally nice, possessing saintly forgiveness after punishment has been dealt, having a desire for both players to win, and lacking envious or greedy desires to take at the expense of others. It could be said to be "nice with an edge".



The German and British Soldiers Using Tit-for-Tat in WWI

Most people have heard the story of the British and German soldiers who had ceased fighting during a certain Christmas of WWI. There is another, more unknown story about a different group of soldiers who exhibited a similar behavior in WWI. These solders on opposite ends of "no mans land" could each be seen walking in the open on their side performing daily duties within clear sight of enemy snipers. Why did this happen? It turns out that these soldiers were both engaged in a win-win strategy of tit-for-tat. If one of the opposing sides were to shoot at the other, the shot at side would then retaliate with equal or greater force and then cease fire until the other side behaved in mutual cooperation again. In this way they both began to trust one another and cooperate. The war was very long and drawn out and both sides didn't want to engage in any more fighting than they had to (as ordered by their superiors). When an artillery shot hit close to the British side once, a German solder actually stood up out in the open on the German side and began shouting apologies and explanations that it wasn't them that fired the artillery but the damned Prussians. The British forgave the mistake and kept the peace. Both sides did in fact fire at the other side occasionally as a display of their capacity to hurt the opposing side, but the shots were always directed away from doing any harm and were so regulated that the opposing side could predict the second and square foot of when and where the shots would be fired. This was also done to keep the higher ups satisfied and unaware of the informal peace treaty that had taken place.

The Bottlenecked Life Cycle
An elephant begins it's life as a single cell (a fertilized egg cell). Every generation gets to rebuild from scratch. You can't mold a propeller engine into a jet engine, you have to start from scratch and go back to the drawing board. This is also how evolution through a bottlenecked life cycle happens.

Are Humans Inherently Selfish?

Humans, unlike most creatures, have conscious foresight and are capable of simulating the future in our imaginations and so we can engage in long term selfishness instead of just short term selfishness (such as by forming a united nations to prevent war in the future and ensure our long-term survival). As Dawkins states: "Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our selfish genes are up to, because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs, something no other species has ever aspired to".

Conclusion

The selfish gene did much to explain to me my purpose in life and the reasons behind so many of mine and other peoples behaviors. I can now look out at a crowd of people and imagine all of the trillions of little genes going about in these lumbering robots searching for ways to survive and replicate themselves. If life is a game, then this book will definitely give you a better understanding of that game and even give you some potential strategies to help you and your genes excel in that game. I highly recommend that you read the book after you finish this summary and get all of the complete understandings and ways of thinking presented to you fully in this great masterpiece of human consciousness.

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