The selfish Gene

Very interesting book by Richard Dawkins. The book throws a different perception about world and life. The way genetic materials behave, think, plan etc are amazing concept. The scientific findings are given in a layman format. Analogies like functioning of computers, science fiction stories etc help a lot in understanding complicate topics.

Earlier I had many doubts like the male attraction
This books clears such doubts and open our eyes on many areas. For eg, I had been in the impression that the beautiful feathers, tusks, lion's facial hairs etc are ornamental and luxury. Looks like they have purpose and also used as measuring gauge to check the animal's health. (this is comparable to the by gone practice - while searching for a bride, the groom's side ask if the girl can sing or dance. )

Many of our day to day simple acts have roots till the pre-historic animal rituals. Just to mention few of the fascinating ideas :

• limited resource enable species to slowly evolve and acquire new skills or new equipments


• why do other birds feed cuckoo's baby (at the cost of their own)


• on a general scale, why predominantly males wander off or break out of relationship?


• what is the significance of diamond ring for proposal?

Read the book Selfish Gene to get many more questions answered.

btw, the soldier anecdote is pulled from this book.