The selfish shellfish sheefish gene (and maybe humans)

             Although we may not wish to believe our selfishness, this does not make selfishness any less true or unimportant. Richard Dawkins’s The Selfish Gene (1976) discusses multiple ways that selfishness manifests at discrete levels of life, from genes to organisms, and in different relationships. The author expounds on how the balance between the two biological authorities of an organism-- the genes’ self-centered ideals and the individual’s conscience--drives its actions and formulates the different behaviors that affect one’s chances of survival and reproduction. The interplay between many individuals under the constant pressure for survival stimulates competition between the organisms and drives the evolution. 

From the beginning of the book, the author thoroughly explains how selfishness is embedded into the life of living organisms, with everything starting from a gene. He begins by providing a unique insight into the selfishness of the genes, as stated in the following phrase: “Genes are competing directly with their alleles for survival, since their alleles in the gene pool are rivals for their slot on the chromosomes of future generations... The gene is the basic unit of selfishness” (Dawkins 46). While we commonly encounter the concept of genes and chromosomes, the perspective of genes regarding survival and reproduction is rarely discussed. I believe understanding genes as individual identities seeking proliferation--rather than a mere string of instructions for building a body--serves as a powerful tool of studying evolution through a new set of lenses.

As the book progresses, Dawkins indicates how the gene and the individual influence one another. The gene indirectly impacts the organism’s behavior by designing its physical components and characteristics. Thereby the gene manipulates the organism as a means to pass its copies onto future generations. The author delineates the preceding idea as he states “It leaps from body to body down the generations, manipulating body after body in its own way and for its own ends, abandoning a succession of mortal bodies before they sink in senility and death” (Dawkins 43). Reversely, the organism sways the chance of expansion of the genes. Although the gene holds partial control over the organism’s behavior, the organism’s mind possesses multiple powers that the gene does not, including memory and prediction, that enables it to decide on immediate actions. 

The organism’s genetic characteristics and conscience combine to form strategies that the organism uses for survival and reproduction. Some of these survival strategies, called selfish strategies, work at the expense of survival chances of others, including family members. The author explicitly presents this uncomfortable truth when he says “we must even expect that children will deceive their parents, that husbands will cheat on wives, and that brother will lie to brother” (Dawkins 84). The author devotes a considerable part of the book into exploring how selfishness arises in different types of relationships, leading the readers to reflect on their own actions of selfishness. This small feeling of guilt is turned into a lesson when the author discusses an experiment conducted with bats that were starved of blood and the bats that had enough blood to donate to others: “The unfortunate starved was then return to the roost, and Wilkinson watched to see who, if anyone, gave it food...In 12 out of these 13 [cases], the donor bat was an old friend of the starved victim, taken from the same cave...to the bats themselves not only is blood thicker than water. They rise above the bonds of kinship, forming their own lasting ties of loyal blood-brotherhood” (Dawkins 300/Dawkins 301). Here, Dawkins demonstrates how altruism brings evolutionary long-term benefits to the individual, and perhaps the whole community. 

                In the midst of this pandemic, we and our genes are especially vulnerable to the risks of illness and potentially death. In response to such danger, people have taken many actions of selfishness against one another over the course of 2020. With this in mind, I believe it is important to look back on our inborn selfish behaviors and critically observe the consequences of our selfishness. Perhaps we lost trust. Perhaps we lost the sense of connection. But perhaps... we all could benefit in the long term by expressing more altruism to one another. Wait, before you start building trust with others, I recommend that you read The Selfish Gene first.

-Yelim