Richard Dawkin's book "The Selfish Gene" uses the same language, but, to his credit, he pauses regularly to remind the reader that genes are not really "selfish

Richard Dawkin's book "The Selfish Gene" uses the same language, but, to his credit, he pauses regularly to remind the reader that genes are not really "selfish" and that they don't have "wants" and "desires," but that he is using that language to make it easier to understand the concepts. I understand your complaint, but it's a necessary communication technique when dealing with the general public.