I'm just reading the endnotes of this fantastic 33 year old book.
Some of the insights of this book are that the primary agents of evolution are replicators and that the genes are the replicators at work when we think of Darwinian evolution. That individual organisms are not the primary agents of evolution, they are merely the vessels by which genes survive and propagate.
Another excellent concept is that of the Extended Phenotype. Dawkins explains that in the same way that bodies are not the genes, they are the effects of genes, so the effects that those bodies have upon their environment are also effects of the genes. Genes do not make organisms. They build proteins. These proteins eventually create cells and multicellular life forms. Bodies are not made out of genes, they are made out of food!
Good examples of the extended phenotype are the dams made by beavers or the houses made by caddis flies.
Great book for those who are interested. For those who aren't, you probably wasted your time reading this post.
Some of the insights of this book are that the primary agents of evolution are replicators and that the genes are the replicators at work when we think of Darwinian evolution. That individual organisms are not the primary agents of evolution, they are merely the vessels by which genes survive and propagate.
Another excellent concept is that of the Extended Phenotype. Dawkins explains that in the same way that bodies are not the genes, they are the effects of genes, so the effects that those bodies have upon their environment are also effects of the genes. Genes do not make organisms. They build proteins. These proteins eventually create cells and multicellular life forms. Bodies are not made out of genes, they are made out of food!
Good examples of the extended phenotype are the dams made by beavers or the houses made by caddis flies.
Great book for those who are interested. For those who aren't, you probably wasted your time reading this post.
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