Over at the Genetic Literacy Project, editor Kenrick Vezina offers a particularly level-headed and constructive consideration of the debate over the fitness of the selfish-gene metaphor that my Aeon article “Die, Selfish Gene, Die,” raised. Violence of the title aside, [Dobbs’s] point was not that we should go out and gather up all the copies of […]
Continue reading →After my Aeon essay “Die, Selfish Gene, Die” last December sparked much discussion, the editors asked biologists Robert Sapolsky and Karen James, genetic counselor Laura Hercher, and philosopher John Dupré to offer their thoughts on the subject. Their smart, well-considered, well-crafted responses are published today. My hearty thanks to all four of these contributors, to Aeon […]
Continue reading →It’s ridiculous how many things Robert Sapolsky talks about beautifully. Here he’s on a roll about how dopamine drives behavior: It’s not about reward, but its anticipation. And we humans have done well — we’ve developed these splendid executive skills and planning and so on — because these big ol’ brains can maintain that anticipation […]
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