This chapter explores the concept of replicators, focusing on DNA and memes as mechanisms of replication and evolution. It examines the implications for personal agency within evolutionary biology and discusses the parallels between evolutionary theory and economic principles, particularly in parental investment. The chapter also highlights the dynamics of conflict during pregnancy, where fetal and maternal interests may clash, presenting a fascinating view of evolutionary struggle.
The author of the classic The Selfish Gene is still changing the way we think about evolution.
- SOURCE:
- Richard Dawkins, professor emeritus of the public understanding of science at Oxford University.
- RESOURCES:
- The Genetic Book of the Dead, by Richard Dawkins (2024).
- Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution, by Richard Dawkins (2021).
- "About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated," by Gregory A. Smith (Pew Research Center, 2021).
- Cuckoo: Cheating by Nature, by Nick Davies (2015).
- The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins (2006).
- "Why the Universe Seems So Strange," by Richard Dawkins (TED Global, 2005).
- "Surprising Stats About Child Carseats," by Steve Levitt (TED Global, 2005).
- "Genes and Memes," by John Maynard Smith (London Review of Books, 1982).
- The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene, by Richard Dawkins (1982).
- The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins (1976).
- "Child Endowments and the Quantity and Quality of Children," by Gary Becker and Nigel Tomes (Journal of Political Economy, 1976).
- "Selective Pecking in the Domestic Chick," by Richard Dawkins (University of Oxford Ph.D. thesis, 1966).