[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Can someone provide a strict definition of 'selfish gene' also? I was always
under the impression that this was a rather vague concept that meant the
ultimate purpose of any organism is to survive and propagate, and therefore
perpetuate the species. What you're saying seems to be something else, and
I
want to get my facts straight!
The key to the selfish gene concept is that it only "wants" to perpetuate
itself. It does not in the end give a hoot about the organism unless helping
the organism survive makes it possible for the gene to survive and spread
(that is why kin selection works. Individuals can be sacrificed if that
sacrifice enhances the survival and spread of other copies of a gene. Natural
selection does not work on the level of a group of (relatively) unrelated
individuals or a species.
