Friday
Me(me), Not You
Sex is probably the biggest part of life. There are other important things, like surviving, but even survival needs sex. For our genes to survive more than one life time or generation, we need to pass them on, and the only way to do that is through reproduction - which means sex. This works fine for genes, but for meme endurance, it undergoes a slight twist. Memes cannot be passed on from an organism to another through sexual or asexual reproduction, their travel plans are a little bit more complex. Memes are cultural ideas that travel through brains. They have to compete against each other and make themselves as conspicuous and flamboyant as possible because their existence depends on how many organisms "like" them. The imitation of one meme creates a new meme that can be from extremely similar to the original one, to having only a small resemblance. Ideas change with everyone that thinks about them, this is why memes aim to be ideas that are attractive in its original way. The less change they undergo in brains, the clearer the imitation of the original, which means the original will last longer. The change and development in the world affects the memes plans, so it is indeed very hard for them to pass on from one person to another with minimum change made to them.
Take it, Don't Leave it
Taking advantage of those who surround us is according to Dawkins the most natural and even expected behavior for living and conscious organisms. Through the rest of chapter 10, You Scratch My Back, I'll Ride on Yours, more theories of how individuals take advantage of groups are explained. Like the Zahavi Theory, where you demonstrate why the predator should NOT go after you. You make your neighbor look bad or unhealthy in some cases so that the predator sees how hard it would be to get, but how easy it would be to get that someone else. I can relate to this with bullying. When there is a bully in the playground, the last thing you want is to be picked on by him or her. There are many options when it comes to what to do to avoid this, and one of them is to pick on someone else, making them look weak. This way the bully will probably join you in picking at that unlucky fellow instead of choosing you as the target and victim. Same principle for self preservation that gazelles and other animals in the world use.
Dawkins has made it pretty clear throughout the whole book that our nature is to be selfish. acts of kindness aren't normally genuine. There's always reason for them. something that inspires kindness in someone usually means that it can provide something they need, they're just gonna have to help you in order to get a hold of it. It's like prices. Everything has a price and sometimes the price is your safety or well being.
"What's in it for the workers?" (pg. 173). This question is asked when talking about carers and bearers, but it can also relate to individuals and herds. Help will be given, all you have to do is pay up.
Dawkins has made it pretty clear throughout the whole book that our nature is to be selfish. acts of kindness aren't normally genuine. There's always reason for them. something that inspires kindness in someone usually means that it can provide something they need, they're just gonna have to help you in order to get a hold of it. It's like prices. Everything has a price and sometimes the price is your safety or well being.
"What's in it for the workers?" (pg. 173). This question is asked when talking about carers and bearers, but it can also relate to individuals and herds. Help will be given, all you have to do is pay up.
Alphabetical Order
A C G T... a language that some humans learn somewhere in high school.
"Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun" said Ray Schleine in the movie Uptown Girls. She also said: "It's a harsh world." I think Richard Dawkins and Ray Schleine are made for each other. Soul mates. The building blocks Dawkins talks about are the nucleotides within a DNA molecule. Our genes makes who and what we are. Like said previously, that is nothing more and nothing less than machines that care about nothing but themselves. Survivors of the "harsh world" Ray mentions in the movie. The specifications of our beings is written in sequences of nucleotides. Sequences that make us all unique in 46 volumes of chromosomes, in an alphabet of four letters - the same four letters that stand capitalized at the top right corner of this blog entry. Each page is a gene, every volume is different from another organisms' volume. We are different but the same. We are survival machines.
Nucleotide: basic structural unit of nucleic acids of DNA and RNA molecules.
Double Helix: structure of parallel helices within a DNA molecule.
DNA molecules: deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.
Natural Selection: The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Protein: compounds composed of long chains of amino acids
Inter - dependence: two things that depend on each other (genes).
"Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun" said Ray Schleine in the movie Uptown Girls. She also said: "It's a harsh world." I think Richard Dawkins and Ray Schleine are made for each other. Soul mates. The building blocks Dawkins talks about are the nucleotides within a DNA molecule. Our genes makes who and what we are. Like said previously, that is nothing more and nothing less than machines that care about nothing but themselves. Survivors of the "harsh world" Ray mentions in the movie. The specifications of our beings is written in sequences of nucleotides. Sequences that make us all unique in 46 volumes of chromosomes, in an alphabet of four letters - the same four letters that stand capitalized at the top right corner of this blog entry. Each page is a gene, every volume is different from another organisms' volume. We are different but the same. We are survival machines.
Nucleotide: basic structural unit of nucleic acids of DNA and RNA molecules.
Double Helix: structure of parallel helices within a DNA molecule.
DNA molecules: deoxyribonucleic acid, a self-replicating material present in nearly all living organisms as the main constituent of chromosomes. It is the carrier of genetic information.
Natural Selection: The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
Protein: compounds composed of long chains of amino acids
Inter - dependence: two things that depend on each other (genes).
Thursday
(Hunger) Survival Machines
In another way, The Selfish Gene can relate to The Hunger Games by the genes playing the role of the capitol, while the different species play the tributes. By capitol I mean sponsors, government and citizens that enjoy watching The Hunger Games to entertain themselves. Like genes, they encourage selfish behavior, because they understand that it is the only way to survive. Like the machines, species are forced by the capitol to compete against each other in the arena. Very much like mother nature has a test that will decide if they are worthy or not to continue on earth: natural selection.
Monday
Semi Selfless
In the fisrt part of chapter 10 of The Selfish Gene, Dawkins begins to explain how organisms are selfish while among themselves. Packs of wolves, schools of fish, flocks of birds are all actions that animals accept and are part of, but only because there is something in it for them. The advantages provided by physics, such as hydrodynamics from the turbulence the fish infront creates. Dawkins says this is the true reason for the schooling, not that they are the same species and a family. Apparently there does exist some behaviours that radiate selflessness. Birds call to their kin, to warn them about the threat the predator poses. This can save them, while risking his life, for by calling, he is calling attention to himself rather than to some other individual.
A domain of danger is "the area of ground in which any point is nearer to an individual than it is to any other individual"(Pg. 167). In order to survive we must make ourselves safe by making others more vulnerable. They serve as our shield, and if we "migrate" intelligently, we will succeed. Apparently there does exist some behaviours that radiate selflessness. Birds call to their kin, to warn them about the threat the predator poses. This can save them, while risking his life, for by calling, he is calling attention to himself rather than to some other individual. This however doesn't come with no benefit to the caller. In order to assure a greater chance of survivla in the face of predators, one must make sure that it is not only oneself, but anyone that ruins that. You can't play hide and seek with someone that when hiding will make noise and aqnd let the seeker know your hiding place. In that case you would both be perjudiced. This is the cave theory (Pg. 169).
Aggregations: Formations where anmals place themselves together in order to avoid their domain of danger from increasing.
A domain of danger is "the area of ground in which any point is nearer to an individual than it is to any other individual"(Pg. 167). In order to survive we must make ourselves safe by making others more vulnerable. They serve as our shield, and if we "migrate" intelligently, we will succeed. Apparently there does exist some behaviours that radiate selflessness. Birds call to their kin, to warn them about the threat the predator poses. This can save them, while risking his life, for by calling, he is calling attention to himself rather than to some other individual. This however doesn't come with no benefit to the caller. In order to assure a greater chance of survivla in the face of predators, one must make sure that it is not only oneself, but anyone that ruins that. You can't play hide and seek with someone that when hiding will make noise and aqnd let the seeker know your hiding place. In that case you would both be perjudiced. This is the cave theory (Pg. 169).
The never break ranks theory explains that we do indeed need our group, flock, school or crowd. We do not want to be spotted by the predator alone. If you are gonna warn your group, you must make sure that every one gets the message and so you will all proceed as a group where migrating inward will be easier. The bigger the group you are part of, the safer you are.
Aggregations: Formations where anmals place themselves together in order to avoid their domain of danger from increasing.
5 Words, 1 Chapter
The Selfish Gene can be defined by certain keywords. Keywords that can lead us to understand what each chapter is talking about. In the second chapter The Replicators, key words and phrases such as: accuracy, efficiency, longevity and complex entities are the main points and ideas that it talks about.
The first three are the reasons why certain types of replicator molecules survive among a pool of different types. The phrase "Complex entities" on the other hand describes the replicators themselves, and how evolution and biological molecules go from being simple and lonely, to creating something of great complexity, like the human body. All living organisms are made up of molecules, and one of the most important molecules are the replicators. Complex entities that thanks to their efficiency, longevity and accuracy, are the survivors and the fittest.
The first three are the reasons why certain types of replicator molecules survive among a pool of different types. The phrase "Complex entities" on the other hand describes the replicators themselves, and how evolution and biological molecules go from being simple and lonely, to creating something of great complexity, like the human body. All living organisms are made up of molecules, and one of the most important molecules are the replicators. Complex entities that thanks to their efficiency, longevity and accuracy, are the survivors and the fittest.
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