The Selfish Gene

In 1976, the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined the word “meme” in his book The Selfish Gene. He was attempting to explain the spread across time and space of nonmaterial things such as ideas, behaviors, and phrases. He called these things memes: cultural units of information that spread from person to person through a process of imitati

But what genes are adapted to – what they do better than almost any variant of themselves – has nothing to do with the species or the individuals or even their own survival in the long run. It is getting themselves replicated more than rival genes.

Instead of speaking vacuously of genetic selfishness, then, it would be immeasurably more accurate to say that compassion, generosity, love, and conscience have a unique claim on life.

The hypothetical genes that caused meme replication by imitation would also have to specify whom to imitate.

moral instincts—the instincts that lead us to behave in ways that benefit other individuals or the general social order—evolved because they also benefit those who express them.

Le Gène égoïste, de Richard Dawkins, explique mieux la vie (y compris les comportements humains et les individus) que tout autre ouvrage que j’ai pu lire.