David Dobbs mucks up evolution, part II « Why Evolution Is True

David Dobbs mucks up evolution, part II « Why Evolution Is True. The second part of Jerry Coyne's response to David Dobb's Aeon piece on the problems with the selfish gene metaphor. Be sure to read Dobb's extended response in the comment section.  Maybe I'm misreading, but Dobb's appears to be backpedaling significantly from the … Continue reading David Dobbs mucks up evolution, part II « Why Evolution Is True

David Dobbs mucks up evolution, part I « Why Evolution Is True

At any rate, Dobb’s goal is several fold. First, he wants to claim that the metaphor of the selfish gene is wrong.  Second, he wants to show that it’s wrong because new understanding of gene regulation—how genes turn on and off during development—render the selfish gene metaphor passé.  Finally, he claims that a new theory, … Continue reading David Dobbs mucks up evolution, part I « Why Evolution Is True

Why it’s time to lay the selfish gene to rest – David Dobbs – Aeon

The grasshopper, he noted, sports long legs and wings, walks low and slow, and dines discreetly in solitude. The locust scurries hurriedly and hoggishly on short, crooked legs and joins hungrily with others to form swarms that darken the sky and descend to chew the farmer’s fields bare. Related, yes, just as grasshoppers and crickets … Continue reading Why it’s time to lay the selfish gene to rest – David Dobbs – Aeon