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Next Book: The Selfish Gene (Patreon)

Published:
2024-08-12 05:06:00
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Some people asked us to announce in advance when we were planning a joint book review and so that’s what this is.

With Richard Dawkins being a goomba online and his gearing up for a farewell US tour, we thought it would be a good time to look back on the book that originally made him famous.

This book was formative for both Matt and I in terms of inspiring an interest in evolution and science but it’s been a loooong time since either of us read it.

Will the fond memories be justified? Or will it be a depressing deconstruction of decades of fond recollections?

If interested, why not join us, and if not 🫡 carry on!

Files

Comments

Josh Lemer

This book was highly formative for me as well, can't wait!

Gavin Ryan Studio

Ive been tuning into his Poetry of Reality podcast when you guys fail to come up with new listening matter at regular enough intervals :). ... I don't always fully agree with all his takes but he's spot on about evolution and most other topics

Tom Yasko

I’m in. As an incredibly religious and devout atheist who has, I think, an as yet unread Dawkins book on my shelf- and as a perpetually aspiring graduate student- I think this would be good for me. So yeah, I’m in- even though I have no clue where this is going.

Idan Ca

Looking forward. Also Editor Andy honing his AI prompting skills for these thumbnails is 🔥

Emma

Fun! And props to Editor Andy for this amazing illustration

Erland Hvittfeldt

Good choice! Still waiting for the audio of the Dominion review 🙃. I'm a big fan of The rest is history and thought about reading it but from what I've heard of your perspective it seems like possibly a waste of time.

Nina Davies

I hated it when I read it 30+ years ago. My physical science friends used to wind me up by quoting it. Incredibly irritating content for an social anthropology graduate in 1990.

Intergalactic Panda Wrangler

I remember this mainly for how it changed my view of evolution in fundamental ways. I thought it was brilliant at the time. Went on to read the God Delusion of course, which sent me on a bit of a weird super atheist route for a long time. Without that, I likely wouldn’t be listening to DTG now… so I guess we have RD to thank/blame for that.

Ben

This book also changed the entire direction of my life, taking from paleontology into behavioral ecology. In retrospect, I think I would've enjoyed the life of a paleontologist more. I ended up leaving academia after getting my doctorate studying behavioral ecology, so maybe I should be angry at Dawkins!

Daniel Dunne

Dawkins would claim The Extended Phenotype as a more scientific statement that The Selfish Gene, I think I heard him say. I expect the guys will be pushing back with the 'new biology', enamoured as they are with Kevin Mitchell.

Aaron Holder

Good choice! It's been a long time, and I think I enjoyed the book but I had difficulty with the tone he took when describing religion and myths. It came across as condescending and arrogant.

A History of Rock n' Roll in Film and Rock n' Roll BONUS MATERIAL

Great! I imagine this one will be both cathartic and educational. I checked this book out from the public library twice because Douglas Adams mentioned it in interviews. But the HUGE jacket quote on the back said "It makes the reader feel like a genius" and that very visible text just made me feel like a douchebag who didn't want to be seen in public with it. So I never finished reading it before having to return it to the library.

Tree

Finally tried reading this a few years ago. So boring. So much flowery language and not enough of everything else.

Robert Andrews

I enjoyed reading many years ago. The explanation of evolutionary stable strategies was interesting. I think he was way out with his championing of Paul Erlich’s Population Bomb, though.

DJ Wearing

Which version will you be reading? I first learned of Dawkins through the God Delusion, the I read the Selfish Gene, the 30th anniversary edition. It was a very entertaining read and I was just amazed how interesting the subject of biology and evolution was (I did the physical sciences at uni and my memories of biology at school were fairly indifferent).

Tom Yasko

Okay- I just wrote this in reply but it’s worth posting in the main, just in case: (1) For the task at hand, which version of The Selfish Gene are we reading? (2) When does this start? and, assuming we’re going at-your-own-pace… (3) When should reading be completed? Related but separate… (at least to me) (4) What’s the schedule for the joint book review? (Sorry if this is obvious to everyone else. I’m the kind of person who needs to know- if one isn’t using 24-hour time- AM & PM and silly little things like, if I’m meeting someone for lunch- are we going to eat? Or are we just meeting? No surprise, despite a career in tech my dusty BA is in communication!)

MaxPlan

Great choice, Dawkins was very influential for me also, both in terms of my enjoyment of science, agnosticism, and being mindful to not have heros. All great lessons.

Liz Tily

This book really takes off in chapter 12. Super interesting. I like Terrence McKenna lectures and he has often stated the importance of memes, ideas, and encouraging people to make art. This book brings those lectures full circle for me as the author is attempting to illustrate the lasting power of memes over genes. Thanks for the rec. I enjoyed this book and I had never heard of it.