Those that can’t effectively replicate themselves will be squeezed out of the population, while those that can undergo various mutations during the copying process. Sooner or later, the environment runs out of freely available resources, and then the molecules will have to compete. Copying itself is that molecule’s only purpose. Once formed, however, that replicator quickly copies itself and spreads throughout its environment. That molecule first arises by chance, as atoms randomly bump into each other in some primordial soup. Therefore, it makes more sense to look at life from the perspective of a selfish gene doing anything it can to reproduce itself because, outside of random mutations, genes pass from one generation to the next unchanged.Īny form of life anywhere in the universe must begin with some type of replicating molecule. While many biologists would say that the purpose of life is to survive and reproduce at the organismal level, Dawkins argues that there are things that the organismal approach can’t explain, such as the prevalence of sexual reproduction when it leads to offspring that are substantially different from the parents. The Selfish Gene shows that all forms of life on Earth begin with genes, and that the purpose of life is to make sure those genes survive. 1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of The Selfish Gene
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