The Selfish Gene

The Selfish Gene is a scientific book on evolution by Richard Dawkins, published in 1976.

It brilliantly builds upon the principal theory of George C. Williams's first book Adaptation and Natural Selection. Dawkins coined the term selfish gene as a way of expressing the gene-centered view of evolution, which holds that evolution is best viewed as acting on genes, and that selection at the level of organisms or populations almost never overrides selection based on genes. An organism is expected to evolve to maximize its inclusive fitness – the number of copies of its genes passed on globally (rather than by a particular individual). As a result, populations will tend towards an evolutionarily stable strategy.

Altruism denial

The fundamental purpose of Dawkins' book is to account for one of the most serious contradictions to Darwinism, the existence of altruism in nature (see Counterexamples to Evolution). To do so, he simply denies that altruism truly exists, and attempts to account for its perceived occurrence by reducing all animal behavior to the manifestation of a gene's inherent desire to survive as (seemingly) selfishness, with excellent logic. Many critics claimed that his work is extremely speculative and shy on evidence, however it was praised by the intelligent scientific community. As such, The Selfish Gene has become lauded by respectable scientists, and even intelligent laymen, but otherwise largely ignored. Many people distort its claims in an attempt to present it as unfalsifiable.

Memes

The book also coins the term meme for a unit of human cultural evolution analogous to the gene, suggesting that such "selfish" replication may also model human culture, in a different sense. Memes were Dawkins' attempt to provide a scientific basis for cultural relativism and atheistic denial of religion, by reducing all matters of faith to a matter of "memes." "Memetics" has since become a favorite area of study for people deemed militant atheists.