It corresponds, in evolution, to trait divergence of subpopulations. Symmetry breaking is a concept borrowed from physics. Specifically, it breaks down when a process called symmetry breaking enters the picture. He demonstrates that the gene-centered view, expressed in mathematical form, is only an approximation of the dynamics actually at work.Īnd this approximation does not always work. If his mathematical proof gains general acceptance, it will shut the door on controversial 'gene-centered' views of evolution.īar-Yam, in the upcoming article, proves that the 'selfish gene' approach is not valid in the general case. Yaneer Bar-Yam, president of the New England Complex Systems Institute and an expert on the application of mathematical analysis to complex systems, contends that the selfish-gene theory of evolution is fatally flawed. In the current issue of Advances in Complex Systems (February-April), Dr. Having difficulty figuring out when it works and when it doesn't, some scientists carried the argument over into the political/ philosophical realm:Īrguments about the gene-centered view often focused on whether people should believe that altruism exists at all. The debate remains unresolved because the gene-centered view is, demonstrably, partially valid. Among others, the well-known evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin and philosopher Elliott Sober have raised specific objections to this focus on the gene. The 'selfish gene' perspective has not gone unchallenged. (The reason we shouldn't think about organisms as competing is that we would then have to think about genes that are part of the same organism as cooperating - which, according to Dawkins, genes don't really do.)

Instead of thinking that organisms compete, Dawkins would have us think that different versions of the gene, known as alleles, compete. The key concept is that any action is a supremely self- serving one on the part of the actor, devoid of motivation to serve the larger group to which the actor belongs (i.e., genes as parts of an organism).Īs far as Dawkins is concerned, the struggle for survival always takes place at the scale of the individual gene. The 'selfish gene' theory proposed by Richard Dawkins has been an influential thread in scientific and popular thinking for the past 25 years.

Efros of the New England Complex Systems Institute.) (Editor's Note: This story is based on a brief release submitted by David R.

The selfish gene by richard dawkins