false 61535 20 Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of <I>The Selfish Gene</I>. Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had since Mendel's work was rediscovered, we turn it around and imagine that "our" genes build and maintain us in order to make more genes. That simple reversal seems to answer many puzzlers which had stumped scientists for years, and we haven't thought of evolution in the same way since. <P> Why are there miles and miles of "unused" DNA within each of our bodies? Why should a bee give up its own chance to reproduce to help raise her sisters and brothers? With a prophet's clarity, Dawkins told us the answers from the perspective of molecules competing for limited space and resources to produce more of their own kind. Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved the way for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced the concept of self-reproducing ideas, or <I>memes</I>, which (seemingly) use humans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, at least we can try to understand our strings. <i>--Rob Lightner</i> 1746717 1976 The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition total:3115|5:1358|4:1159|3:480|2:87|1:31| 3115 13071 5512 377 4 5 false false Sun Apr 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 19 02:19:41 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 21 00:04:45 -0700 2008 The Selfish Gene is an idea that I find a bit difficult to put into words. Richard Dawkins is really good at crafting metaphors to describe scientific principles that on their own may be not be so interesting, or may be stubbornly inaccessible. While hi...more...]]> 1 5 false false Tue Jun 05 06:30:19 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 05 06:34:34 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 5 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Tue Oct 02 06:46:31 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 06:55:46 -0700 2007
I am a bi...more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 12 09:41:53 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 00:15:04 -0700 2007
I found this book to contain a number of "aha" moments ...more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Nov 12 23:17:08 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 12 23:25:06 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu May 08 08:27:28 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 08:27:40 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Apr 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 05 22:35:42 -0800 2008 Sun Apr 27 22:26:36 -0700 2008 The Smartest Guys in the Room" about my former employer, Enron, and it struck with me that the movie mentions "The S...more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Fri Aug 17 21:07:40 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 17 21:10:39 -0700 2007 10 people in a private room with a big deal/money insurance company eating expensive steaks and drinking expensive wine. one guy says to the effect: "simple starches convert almost instantly to sugar, sugar actually makes you more hungry."

so i say to ...more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri May 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 09 08:52:14 -0700 2008 Fri May 09 09:42:03 -0700 2008
This is not your usual, vague, bio-jabberwocky-...more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Oct 06 13:00:42 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 06 13:00:50 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 3 false false Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Oct 03 08:18:40 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 03 08:18:40 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Oct 15 07:08:13 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 15 07:14:52 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Aug 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 29 15:12:34 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 20 10:56:08 -0700 2008
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Key concepts for me:
+The universe is populated by stable things
+"In sexually reproducing species, the individual is too large and too temporary a genetic unit to ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 10:22:06 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 08:20:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 true false Mon Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Sat Jun 23 00:02:13 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 23 00:20:04 -0700 2007 this is not science, it's a book about sci...more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 03 17:00:39 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 30 08:00:38 -0700 2007
Pretty fascinating shit, actually... Dawkins' revolutionary theory basically re...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 08 03:37:25 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 08 03:48:32 -0700 2007
I'm not really qualified to give an scientific assessment of this. I have not read opposing evolutionary theory. (Or the Bible, hahaha.)

It was very engaging. Made the theory seem remarkably complete. I guess a lot of the examples seemed kind of selectiv...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 18 13:10:34 -0700 2007 Fri Nov 02 16:43:39 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 21:40:46 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 21:54:13 -0700 2007
It may no...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sat Feb 24 14:05:53 -0800 2007 Sun Feb 25 17:53:44 -0800 2007 more...]]>