Well, you already mentioned Dawkins, but to anyone else reading this, I can't recommend The Selfish Gene enough. It dramatically changed the way I understand na

Well, you already mentioned Dawkins, but to anyone else reading this, I can't recommend The Selfish Gene enough. It dramatically changed the way I understand nature, and with the chapter on memes, the way I understand culture. I hear The Extended Phenotype, again by Dawkins, is also excellent, but regrettably, I haven't read it yet. I also highly recommend Dan Dennett. He covers these topics more directly. Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking covers his thoughts on consciousness and evolution in a very direct and superbly clear manner. Dennett also co-edited an anthology of fiction and non-fiction called The Mind's I with Douglas Hofstadter (of Godel, Escher, Bach fame). It was one of the most interesting and enjoyable books I have ever read. It covers a very wide variety of topics surrounding the editors' theory of the mind, including the classic dualist/materialist debate (the editors are distinctly materialists), evolution, the mechanics at the core of consciousness, and so much more. It's another one that I can't recommend enough.