The Selfish Gene

One of the things that I have been doing is catching up on my reading list, at the top of which is "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins. Dawkins offers a compelling but ultimately flawed argument as to why behaviour can be explained in terms of gene propagation. His arguments apply to creatures such as the dung beetle, which lack the ability to reason. However his arguments do not apply to mankind, a creature thas has developed higher order cognitive functions.

As an example of Dawkins' reasoning, consider why humans display altruism toward kin but not toward strangers. Because there is a large genetic overlap with kin, a hypothetical "protect your family" gene would be "rewarded" by increased propagation in the gene pool. In contrast, a hypothetical "protect a stranger" gene would be "punished" by eventual eradication. Valuable energy is expended without any greater probability of your own genes surviving.

However, there are numerous examples in modern society of people acting in ways that are detrimental to the prosperity of their genes. For example celibacy and contraception are both examples of conscious human choices that have disastrous consequences for genetic longevity. In fact, to maximise gene propagation one would simply spend one's entire life visiting sperm banks. To the best of my knowledge, this activity is not practiced by any non-trivial percentage of the human population. Apparently numerous people read the book and wrote into Dawkins complaining about the futility of life. This is patently ridiculous as even a brief moment of introspection make it abundantly clear that in no way are human beings enslaved by the machinations of their genetic programming.