Oct 14, 2025 07:41 PM
https://medium.com/@molbioandthemeaningo...c2b8fc0bba
EXCERPT: Regardless of the outcome of that debate, which may never be resolved, the type of reductionism that Dawkins pursued with The Selfish Gene is not wrong because it is reductionism. It is incorrect because it misapplies reductionism. The metaphor sets up a false dichotomy between the organism, on the one hand, and the genes, on the other hand. If we place the 1970s in a bit more historical context, we can see why this might have occurred... (MORE - details)
EXCERPT: Regardless of the outcome of that debate, which may never be resolved, the type of reductionism that Dawkins pursued with The Selfish Gene is not wrong because it is reductionism. It is incorrect because it misapplies reductionism. The metaphor sets up a false dichotomy between the organism, on the one hand, and the genes, on the other hand. If we place the 1970s in a bit more historical context, we can see why this might have occurred... (MORE - details)