Analysis Of Richard Dawkins: The Selfish Gene

According to the text, __________ refers to biochemical or genetic changes that cause cell mutations and that account for predictable for age-related diseases.

It is important for this essay that the definition used for selfishness and for cowardice is clear. Selfishness is the feature of doing that which brings you welfare, luck or even pleasure. This is not the same as taking care of yourself, as selfishness includes others who are a victim of your deeds. Someone who is selfish doesn’t act to others’ feelings or needs.

10. Why is it that genetic change can occur more quickly in small groups? Why is it important for the evolution of new species?

Founder effect: isolated individuals of a population establish a new population → limited gene pool

Selfishness is being concerned for oneself or one’s advantage and welfare regardless of others. Selfness is demonstrated when a person leaves and does not tell anyone where they are going. In Into the Wild Jon Krakauer tells the story of Chris McCandless’s selfish quest for “ultimate Freedom”. Chris is selfish because he takes his privileged life for granted. Then, Chris decides to leave and he totally ignores and blocks out his family. Finally Chris builds relationships with people, then leaves when they are no longer needed. Chris taking his life for granted, his ignorance and the fact that he is an absentee is why Chris McCandless’s quest for “ultimate freedom” is selfish.

it will not be able to pass any of its alleles (genetic information) on to its offspring. An organism that has high

“When it comes to interpreting other people’s behavior, human beings invariable make the mistake of overestimating the importance of fundamental character traits and underestimating the importance of the situation and context. We will always reach for a “dispositional” explanation for events, as opposed to a contextual explanation”. (160) As mentioned before, just because someone comes from the slums, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are more likely to be troubled or commit a crime than someone who comes from a well-kept upper class community. How these two people act, see, think, and feel come from all environments - ranging from home, to school, to after school activities, to where they hang out, to what they watch or listen to. These daily sights, sounds and interactions shape the person that they become. “Character isn’t what we think it is or, rather, what we want it to be. It isn’t a stable, easily identifiable set of closely related traits, and it only seems that way because of a glitch in the way our brains are organized. Character is more like a bundle of habits and tendencies and interests, loosely bound together and dependent, at certain times, on circumstance and context”. (163) So how much and to what extent does their environment dictate their behavior? “The features of our immediate social and physical world play a huge role in shaping who we are and how we act” (168) Whether consciously or subconsciously, willingly or unwillingly, the every day choices we make or don’t make help to shape our character and define our patterns of

Charles Darwin began his scientific breakthroughs and upcoming theories when he began an expedition trip to the Galapagos Islands of South America. While studying there, he discovered that each island had its own type of plant and animal species. Although these plants and animals were similar in appearance, they had other characteristics that made them differ from one another and seem to not appear as similar. Darwin questioned why these plants and animals were on these islands and why they are different in ways.

Q: Why dose Dawkins say that there is no blueprint in the DNA for the development of organisms?

‘The Selfish Gene’ is a very well written nonfictional book. Richard Dawkins has a wonderful way of explaining his opinion on natural selection and evolution. The book is geared towards anyone with a basic understanding of evolution and biology and wants to learn more. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a book about how different species act and how their behaviour can affect future generations. Animals that act unselfishly; the term ‘altruistically’ is used in the book, cannot pass on their behaviours.

In my opinion, people’s actions are determined by two things: their desires and their judgment. A person may have a strong desire to do something, and that something is an end to this person; however, having this intention does not justify his actions taken to achieve such end – not every action that leads to that end is justifiable, and instead the person need to judge whether his action, or the means to the end, is morally justifiable to take or not. In this case, not only the end itself is justified, the action you are taking is also justified. I believe that the strongest representation of the deepest intentionality is demonstrated when the person refuses to be the slave of his own desire or the most urgent affective state, but takes a step back and analyze whether pursuing his own desire is morally justified or not. If yes, he goes ahead with his own desire; if not, he needs to change his end. Changing his end implies that that he will have to suffer a lot from not addressing his urgent affective state, both physically or mentally. If in that case, the person is still willing to change his end in order to take justifiable actions, deepest level of intentionality is shown – actions are taken according to the justifiability of both means and ends, even if it takes great pain to

Charles Darwin broached the theory of natural selection in his book the Origin of Species, which has been considered the basis of evolutionary biology to this day. Natural selection is when populations of a species evolve over the course of many generations. Darwin believed that species were not created separately, but instead, species were derived from one another. In other words, the evolution of species creates many variations among creatures, and this is because all of those species came from a common ancestor, and characteristics changed to increase the species chance of survival.

Darwin and Evolution are inextricably linked in the minds of most people who have had the opportunity to study them in basic biology. However, Darwin's theories of selection and survival of the fittest have been applied to moral, economic, political, and other cultural aspects of society. Dennett briefly touched on some of the political and social ramifications of Darwin's theories in the final chapter of Darwin's Dangerous Idea. Other philosophers and thinkers have also adapted Darwin's evolutionary ideas, in order to apply them in a societal or cultural context. One great example of this adaptation of the biological concept of evolution, is the appearance of Social Darwinism during the 19th century.

The two alleles, one contributed by the male and the one by the female gamete remain distinct; alleles do not blend with one another or become altered in any other way

“I’ve learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are.” These were the words of a poet, Omer B. Washington. However, they would only apply in