Classics in #evolutionarybiology do not make you optimistic about human nature. From Charles Darwin’s Descent of Man onwards, there is a fundamental understanding among biologists that organisms, especially humans, evolved to maximise self-interest. We, or rather our genes, act to promote our own success or that of our family. More recently, however, anthropologists and psychologists have pushed back against this pessimistic view. Is the #selfishgene concept wrong?

https://aeon.co/essays/we-cooperate-to-survive-but-if-no-ones-looking-we-compete

Another nail in the coffin of "biological determinism":

"Study finds cell memory can be more like a dimmer dial than an on/off switch"

https://news.mit.edu/2025/study-finds-cell-memory-can-be-more-like-dimmer-dial-0909

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The researchers carried out experiments in which they set the expression of a single gene at different levels in different cells. While conventional wisdom would assume the gene should eventually switch on or off, the researchers found that the gene’s original expression persisted: Cells whose gene expression was set along a spectrum between on and off remained in this in-between state.

The results suggest that epigenetic memory — the process by which cells retain gene expression and “remember” their identity — is not binary but instead analog, which allows for a spectrum of gene expression and associated cell identities.
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#biology #biological #determinism #raceScience #eugenics #pseudoscience #selfishGene #spectrum #nuance #nonbinary #spectrum

I read The Selfish Gene as a teenager.

Some found it cold. Others found it reductive.

I found it honest.

It offered me the beginnings of an algorithm for what objective compassion would actually have to look like in a mechanistic world.

Not sentiment masquerading as ethics, but a model of cooperation that emerges from elements maintaining their own well-being, growth, and perpetuation of identity.

#SelfishGene #RichardDawkins #Gratitude #memeorigin #ConcupiscereServat #bookstodon

Choose 20 books that greatly influenced you. One #book per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

The Selfish Gene. Richard Dawkins

9/20

#20Books #20Books20Days
#Books #RichardDawkins #SelfishGene #TheSelfishGene

A debate between Richard Dawkins and Denis Noble: The Selfish Gene
https://iai.tv/video/the-gene-machine

Dawkins' #SelfishGene has been a hugely influential theory for #evolutionary #biology, but critics argue that it is too simplistic, ignoring group selection and the effect of the environment. A debate has emerged over whether the Selfish Gene reduces humans to machines and is hindering medical research: ultimately, it remains to be seen whether it is a valid and accurate account of who we are.