Genes are not conscious and do not choose to cooperate; they are inanimate molecules switched on and off by chemical messages. What causes them to work in the right order and create a human body is some mysterious biochemical program, not a democratic decision. But in the last few years the revolution begun by Williams, Hamilton, and others has caused more and more biologists to think of genes as analogous to active and cunning individuals. Not that genes are conscious or driven by future goals—no serious biologist believes that—but the extraordinary teleological fact is that evolution works
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