Essence will Perdure

So genes are the selfish things inside our DNA that make us how we are anatomically. That must be clear by now.

Now memes. What are they exactly?

I’d like to define it as an idea, a cultural idea to be more precise. This memes are not transmitted by sexual reproduction, as genes, but by exchange of information, being written, talked, and/or seen. Everything that you have been taught in school, at home or in your religious institution, is a meme.

Dawkins says, “Our genes may be immortal but the collection of genes that is any one of us is bound to crumble away.” (pg.199) Meaning that even when our genes are constantly trying to move on from generation to generation, the collection of genes will only last one generation. On the other hand, memes, if able to contribute in a big way to the world’s culture, are bound to last much longer than the collection of genes.

This chapter made me go back to my philosophy class where we read Sigmund Freud’s, Civilizations and its Discontents. I found an interesting connection between Freud and Dawkins that helped me understand both texts better. 

Freud, talks about biology and archeology giving an example of all the changes that Rome has gone through. The monuments and constructions are no longer present on their original form,  (the “collection of genes”). Instead, there are reconstructions of reconstructions of the original monument. These reconstructions try to imitate the original constructions demonstrating that the essence, or idea of the original construction (the meme) is present, even when many centuries have gone by and the interpretations have changed and grown apart from the original.

Genes have to face competition in order to survive right? Memes do too. However, now a days memes don’t only have to compete with each other but with the commodities in the external world. The TV, radio, books, are all now competing with the memes. Therefore, in order for a meme to transcend into future generations it must, first, be strong enough to win the attention of the brain winning over its rival memes and commodities, and second be good enough to be passed on not only by one person, but by many people to other brains. 

Teamwork!

Teamwork!

Not really.

Individual self interest really.

It is clear that individual organisms need others, but is it just to individually survive and be able to pass on their genes or do they really care about the others?

As depressing as this might sound, organisms use other organisms form the same species to be able to survive longer. For example animals that live in herds, they do not really care about the companion of each other because they are best friends. No. What is really going on is that they are stuck with the others so they can live longer. They are actually just worried about their self-benefit but in order to benefit they must give in a little too. However, when it comes to danger and when these animals know that one of the herd will possibly die, they have to options: send the alarm call or apply Zahavi’s theory.
Zahavi’s theory states that for example in gazelles, the signal or alarm call is intended to the predators. When danger and death are inevitable they will do anything, even put in risk their herd members life, so they will survive. No matter how selfish it might be.
So, when you see animals working together they are not actually working together. They are just using each other for their individual gain.

Sad huh? Not really. You do the exact same thing.

Two things I can say about this, first, humans are not the only selfish species, second, it is in our genes to be selfish. The most selfish organism is the one who will survive and we all want to survive really, so we have too. We have no other option, and neither the animals that constantly have to face their predators. For example, when Dawkins sets the case of the birds and the parasite. Bird A helps Bird B take the tick off, but when Bird A goes to Bird B for help Bird B just slacks off. Who gains the most from this? Bird B obviously. Bird B won the benefits without paying the costs.

Even when species have to do symbiosis, so they can live longer.  They have to partner up with another species both contribute in some way to become the fittest and survive longer. Even when this may sound like working together and teamwork it really isn’t. They are doing what ever they can to survive even when they have to collaborate with another one it just on their best individual interest. 

'Survival of the Stable'

 Stable: “A stable thing is a collection of atoms that is permanent enough or common enough to deserve a name.” (Pg. 12 The Selfish Gene) Definition: Adj. Not likely to fall or give away, steady

    Replicator: “We will call it Replicator. It may not necessarily have been the biggest or the most complex molecule around, but it had the extraordinary property of being able to create copies of itself.” (Pg. 15 The Selfish Gene) Definition: noun. Something that makes an exact copy of itself; reproduces


Template: “The replicator would act as a template not for an identical copy, but for a kind of ‘negative’, which would in its turn re-make an exact copy of the original positive” (pg. 16 The Selfish Gene) Definition: noun.  Something serving as a model





Longevity: “Replicators of high longevity would therefore tend to become more numerous and, other things being equal, there would have been an ‘evolutionary trend’ towards greater longevity in the population of molecules.” (Pg. 17 The Selfish Gene) Definition: Noun. Length or duration of life



   Evolution: “Evolution is something that happens, willy-nilly, in spite of all the efforts of the replicators (and nowadays of the genes) to prevent it happening.” (Pg. 18 The Selfish Gene) Definition: noun. Change in the gene pool of a population from generation to generation by processes such as mutation, natural selection and genetic drift





Competition:  “We can now see the less that less-favored varieties must actually become less numerous because of competition, and ultimately many of their lines must have gone extinct” (pg.19 The Selfish Gene) Definition: noun. The act of competing, rivalry for supremacy, survival.