The Selfish Gene

Traditional understanding of evolution has always been from the point of view of whole organisms. Survival of the Fittest and Natural Selection have all been perceived as being dictated by the species’ drive to survive. Dawkins turns this on its head. In The Selfish Gene, he says it is the genes that drive evolution, not the species. Each gene is motivated to replicate and pass on its own copies as long as possible. So, the fundamental competition for survival is between genes. In this race, the successful genes design the complex organism that it forms a part of. The organism's own survival is secondary. It is a vehicle to pass on its inclusive genes. The author does not use the word selfish in a sentient sense, to imply that the genes are consciously selfish. What the term in this context means is that the individual genes are automatically programmed to replicate and pass on their own characteristics, without any drive to cooperate with other individual genes. At the organism level, the cooperation and altruism among members of the same species also makes sense in this context. They share the same genetic code. So, if they care for other individuals of their species and even give up their life defending other members like their own offspring, they are just doing it to protect their own genetic composition. The gene-centric view of evolution also implies that gene survival can sometimes come at the expense of individuals of a species. For instance, in some spider species, the males are eaten by the females. Yet, the drive to pass on its genes overrides the male’s drive for individual survival. The Selfish Gene explains evolution as being driven by the competition to survive among the most basic units of life, the genes. It is a purely individualistic view rather than the collective view of the organism which is composed of countless genes coming together.