4 ms·
The selfish gene is a great book. I read it when it was about 15 and it really resonated with me. Except the last chapter about f$%#ing memes. Hated it. It
by singingfish 7y ago
The selfish gene is a great book. I read it when it was about 15 and it really resonated with me.
Except the last chapter about f$%#ing memes. Hated it. It was like taking the core idea of the book and providing a cumbersome over-extended metaphor about ideas. So the colloquial meme is just as bad because it constantly reminds me of the original shit-house idea.
Climbing Mount Improbable was good, but I can't rate Dawkins' later work. The Extended Phenotype I found impenetrable, and I've tried reading it a few times. The God stuff ... omg, just please stop shouting about your Daddy issues.
- robocat 7y agoI think that memes are actually driving a lot of human activity. When you read about how selfish genes work, and then relate that to what is happening with certain "meme" concepts in the world, it makes sense to me. The Extended Phenotype is really hard to grok, but I still love that book. I'm not sure I've ever been able to apply the idea. I completely ignored any of his God bothering stuff - to me it seemed he was pushing his own religion (note: religions are a type of meme too).