We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes. This is a truth which still fills me with astonishment.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Humans are vessels evolved to protect and pass on genetic material, which is a startling biological truth.
- In plain terms
- We are machines built to protect our genes.
- What can you take from it?
- View humans as vehicles for gene survival.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What defines a survival machine?
- Are we just vessels for genes?
Another view
It reduces human culture and altruism to genetic imperatives.
More from Richard Dawkins
The argument of this book is that we, and all other animals, are machines created by our genes.
Permalink to quote #12 I am not advocating a morality based on evolution. I am saying how things have evolved. I am not saying how we humans morally ought to behave.
Permalink to quote #14 Today the theory of evolution is about as much open to doubt as the theory that the earth goes round the sun.
Permalink to quote #11
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