“We are survival machines – robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.” - Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene

In 1976, Richard Dawkins published one of the most iconic science books of all time. It has inspired a generation of science enthusiasts. But unsurprisingly, many readers disliked the idea of being but a “robot vehicle” or a “survival machine” for some tiny molecules — especially if these molecules are best served by repeated pregnancies or donations to a sperm bank.

Yet Dawkins was right on one thing: “however much we may deplore something, it does not stop being true.”

So what is true?

I have previously written about one claim in the Selfish Gene which is certainly not true. This is the claim that, if we accept the book's biological theories, then we humans must be “born selfish”. Even Dawkins has accepted that this was a "rogue" claim that readers should "mentally delete". You can hear more by heading to episode 20 of On Humans.

But what about the underlying science? Are selfish genes still the right way to think about the facts of evolution?

Not so, according to Eva Jablonka.

You might remember Jablonka from episode 36 on the evolution of consciousness. But before her work on consciousness, Jablonka was famous for her research on epigenetic inheritance -- literally, "inheritance beyond the gene". So what is epigenetic inheritance? What do we know about it scientifically? And does it matter philosophically?

I hope you enjoy this conversation.

LINKS

Get more links and references from my accompanying essay at OnHumans.Substack.com.

Support my work at Patreon.com/OnHumans

Bonus | Evolution Beyond the Selfish Gene (with Eva Jablonka)