This book puts forward a viewpoint that subverts Darwin's theory of evolution. The subject of evolution is genes, not biological individuals as we thought before. Any living thing, including people, is just a tool and carrier for gene self-replication. Genes will do anything to ensure that they can be copied, sometimes even sacrificing the health and longevity of the vector. At this point, genes are extremely selfish, so the author calls them "selfish genes". As carriers of genes, they are dominated by genes, so all living things are born selfish.
1. Why is it that the main body of evolution is genes, and organisms are just tools used by genes to replicate themselves?
Darwin's theory of evolution put forward in the19th century can be summarized in eight words-natural selection, survival of the fittest. From this point of view, we all think that evolution is that biological individuals make adaptive changes according to the changes of natural environment through means of heredity and mutation, so as to ensure that they can adapt to the environment and survive smoothly, but Dawkins puts forward that the "thing" in Natural Selection is not a biological individual, but. In other words, genes are the protagonists of evolution, not the biological individuals we always thought.
Why are genes the main body of evolution and organisms just tools used by genes to replicate themselves? First, from the origin of life, genes have created organisms in order to win competition and ensure that they can be copied in the process of evolution; Second, from the evolutionary trend, the organism itself cannot be accurately copied, but the gene can be accurately copied. Organisms will eventually die, but genes will live forever.
Second, why genes are selfish, and why under the control of "selfish genes", organisms will still make altruistic behaviors.
Dawkins proved the selfishness of genes through three examples: mantis, sea rabbit and other creatures ate their spouses during mating, salmon swam back to birth after suffering and died after laying eggs, and human cancer genes. The goal of genes is always self-replication, not protecting the interests of vectors. Then through the story of bees and gazelles, the real reason behind biological altruism is explained, in order to protect their own survival and genetic inheritance. Therefore, these seemingly altruistic behaviors are actually selfish behaviors made by organisms under the control of selfish genes. Many behaviors that you think are free will are actually controlled by genes, while many seemingly altruistic behaviors are actually selfish.
For example, we can often see such things in our lives. Some people work overtime and stay up late to finish a project. It is often seen in the news that someone sacrificed himself to save a drowning child. This seemingly altruistic behavior is actually a selfish behavior made by a creature under the control of selfish genes, and its purpose is actually selfish. Even so, we don't need to feel depressed or uneasy, because as human beings, we have a special weapon to resist genetic manipulation, and this weapon is to find our mother.
Third, how to get rid of genetic manipulation by looking for a mother?
Dawkins first put forward the word "seeking mother" in Selfish Genes, which is the Chinese transliteration of the English word "meme". Some people also translate "meme" into meme, so translation is to be symmetrical with genes. But whether seeking mother or meme represents a cultural consideration unit, which covers a very wide range, including scientific knowledge, religion, thought, belief, behavior and so on.
Searching for mothers is as good and bad as genes. A good mother search is beneficial to us, such as the scientific knowledge and correct beliefs we have learned. All of them are verified and reflect the initial information of the world, which can help us get rid of the control of genes and achieve our goals. Bad mother-seeking, like cancer cells, infects our brains, making us lose control of ourselves and completely become puppets of mother-seeking.
Mothers who die for their beliefs and can go to heaven make terrorists willing to use themselves as suicide bombers to create terrorist attacks, such as heroes who often die generously in some film and television dramas; Finding a mother who believes that it is easy to make a lot of money makes many people eager to give money to liars. No matter how people around them dissuade them, they are stubborn. For example, those who fall into fraud circles are convinced that doing this project will make them a lot of money, so they will not listen to anyone's persuasion.
In this regard, we should have the ability to distinguish between good and bad mother-seeking, accept good mother-seeking and resist bad mother-seeking. Genes control us through the spontaneous system, and the analysis system created by seeking mothers can inhibit the instinctive reaction of the spontaneous system, help us rationally analyze and evaluate our goals, and make choices that are more in line with our own interests, thus getting rid of the control of genes.