Richard Dawkins’ “selfish gene” theory argues that all human behavior is determined by the survival strategies of our genes. However, there are counterexamples that cannot be explained by genetic theory alone, such as transgenderism, homosexuality, and altruistic behavior toward others not related to us by blood, showing that human free will and a variety of social and cultural factors work...
This article addresses the debate over whether rape is an evolutionarily adaptive behavior or simply a byproduct of violent learning, exploring the adaptability of rape from an evolutionary perspective and concluding that it cannot be ethically justified. The book Darwin’s Table, written by South Korean professor Daeik Jang, brings together prominent scholars to debate whether male...
Epigenetics by Richard C. Francis and The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins explore the nature of genes and the possibilities of epigenetics. While Dawkins argues that genes use humans as survival machines, epigenetics shows that gene expression can be suppressed by environmental factors. The possibility that environmental factors can alter genetic traits and modify survival strategies, as in the...
This article draws on Dawkins’ theory of selfish genes and evolutionary stabilization strategies (ESS) to explain why some birds reproduce by laying eggs, and why birds that have been laid care for them as if they were their own. He explores the possibility that the ESS strategy may extend to interspecies interactions, shedding light on the survival strategies of genes through the trade...
Evolution is the process by which living things change gradually over long periods of time. Dawkins argues that living things have increased in complexity and adaptability, which he views as progress. Gould, on the other hand, acknowledges that some organisms have increased in complexity, but not all. The theory of evolution explains the changes in living things from different perspectives...
This article explains the selfish behavior of living things and the evolutionary process from a gene-centered perspective, based on Richard Dawkins’ argument in The Selfish Gene that life exists for the self-replication of genes. While I criticize the assumptions and logical limitations of gene-centered evolutionary theory, I praise it for providing a new way of understanding the behavior...
Is the direction in which plants and animals in the natural world are evolving always progressive? Examine the opposing arguments of Dawkins and Gould to see if the increasing complexity of life can be interpreted as progress. Are plants and animals in the natural world evolving in a progressive direction? In the past, we have assumed that body structures and brains have evolved over time...
In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins introduces the concept of “memes” to explain human cultural evolution apart from genes. Memes are cultural replicators-ideas, beliefs, behaviors, etc.-that spread to people through imitation and, like genes, aim to survive and replicate themselves. Meme theory is scientifically and socially important as a tool for understanding how human culture and values...
Born in 1809, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin changed the world with the emancipation of black slaves and the theory of evolution, respectively. Darwin’s theory of evolution, in particular, shook the Christian-centered culture of the Western world, sparking a debate between adaptationists and anti-adaptationists. Steven Gould’s Discontinuous Equilibrium reconsiders the contingency...
Stephen Jay Gould describes evolution as a collection of changes caused by a variety of variables, rather than as positive progress, and argues that we should be wary of the fallacy of interpreting progress as progress alone when applying it to social evolution. Richard Dawkinson, on the other hand, emphasizes that the accumulation of traits at the micro-level of evolution leads to...