You might want to read up on the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. It's a proposed extension to the modern synthesis of Dawkins' generation and includes concepts

You might want to read up on the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. It's a proposed extension to the modern synthesis of Dawkins' generation and includes concepts like multilevel selection and cultural evolution. It's currently a matter of debate and empirical verification in the field. But it's a lot more in line with my way of thinking about evolution as a constantly self-bootstrapping process finding new media to evolve. I subscribe to an evolutionary cosmology myself(not Sheldrake's drivel), but that's mostly just a pet theory I like to think about when I'm high :D