The exploration of human origins begins with understanding the process of natural selection at different levels through the theory of evolution. Along the way, Darwin’s theory has been expanded by scholars like Dawkins to show that evolution can occur at multiple levels, including genes, individuals, and populations. These discussions play an important role in helping humans understand their origins and appreciate the complexity of life.
After being endowed with intelligence, humans made advances unparalleled by other animals: they were able to utilize tools and had the thinking skills to solve problems. After moving away from hunting and gathering and becoming a full-fledged agricultural society, humans used their abundant thinking skills to create culture. They were also driven by an instinctive need known as “intellectual curiosity” to find explanations for phenomena they didn’t understand, resulting in the birth of academia.
Intellectual curiosity has been a fundamental driver of human civilization: humans have constantly asked questions to understand the laws of nature and the universe, and these questions have given rise to various forms of disciplines such as science, philosophy, and religion. The question “Where did I come from?” in particular has played a central role in the human intellectual journey. However, in the absence of a sufficient academic foundation, there was no clear answer to this question, and people began to imagine a “God.” In a way, this is natural: they were solving a homework assignment that their brilliant imaginations had failed to solve.
This concept of God was held as truth for thousands of years, until it was challenged by the great 19th century scientist Charles Darwin. In The Origin of Species, Darwin approached the previously unsolved problem from a new perspective: evolution. Through decades of observation and research, he argued that all living things, including humans, have evolved to become what they are today. But no first theory is perfect; science is by its very nature an evolving process of constant revision and testing, and Darwin’s theory was no exception.
Just as Newton’s laws of motion were expanded upon by Einstein’s theory of relativity, Darwin’s theory of evolution has been studied and debated by countless scholars. For example, Daeik Jang’s book Darwin’s Table recounts the story of some of the world’s greatest minds debating Darwin’s theory of evolution. A particularly interesting aspect of the book is the question, “At what level does evolution occur?”
In his book The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins argued that evolution occurs at the level of the “gene.” Dissenters argue that evolution can occur at many levels, including the species, the individual, and beyond the gene. This debate has been a long-running topic in the scientific community, and the argument between Dawkins and his opponents has become one of the central issues in modern evolutionary biology.
Imagine a time, billions of years ago, when life did not exist on Earth. Dawkins calls this primordial Earth a “primordial soup.” Over time, some molecules in the primordial soup began to develop the ability to replicate themselves. These first “self-replicators” would have made copies of themselves, and their numbers would have grown. The replicators would have competed with each other for limited resources, and out of this competition life would have emerged. Dawkins describes these life forms as ‘survival machines’, and explains that the different self-replicators created different survival machines, which then went through a process of evolution.
Most important to evolution is the mechanism of ‘natural selection’, which was proposed by Darwin and is a key process in evolution. Natural selection is the idea that organisms that are optimized for their environment will survive, while those that are not will die out. For example, it’s possible that bears in the Arctic initially had different colors, but white was probably advantageous for survival in the glacier-filled Arctic. As a result, over time, only white bears survived.
At this point, the question of “at what level does evolution occur?” comes up again. Dawkins argues that even if an organism is highly developed, it is still nothing more than a survival machine of genes. He supports his argument with many examples and explains that evolution occurs at the gene level. Other scholars, on the other hand, argue that evolution occurs at many levels beyond the gene, including individuals and populations, and propose a theory of multilevel selection.
This debate has been an important issue in evolutionary biology. Dawkins uses the example of altruistic behavior in ground squirrels to prove his theory. His argument that altruistic behavior helps genes survive has provided a new perspective on evolutionary theory. However, opponents propose multilevel selection, which suggests that evolution can occur at the individual and population levels in addition to genes, highlighting the complexity of evolutionary theory.
Gould also points out that altruistic behavior occurs even among individuals who do not share genes, suggesting that evolution does not necessarily occur at the gene level. These discussions demonstrate the profound complexity of evolutionary biology and suggest the need for a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the evolution of life.
In conclusion, Dawkins’ arguments are highly novel, and his theory marks an important milestone in evolutionary biology. The process of understanding our origins has put humans in a unique position to separate ourselves from other creatures on Earth. What genes have accomplished over hundreds of millions of years, humans have accomplished in just a few thousand years. Our intellect is now powerful enough to escape the dictatorship of genes and forge its own path, and in this respect, humans will continue to evolve beyond genes.
