Reply #44: Have you read The Selfish Gene

[GoneOffShore]

By Richard Dawkins?

From the book jacket.

"Our genes made us. We animals exist for their preservation and are nothing more than their throwaway survival machines. The world of the selfish gene is one of savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit. But what of the acts of apparent altruism found in nature - the bees who commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, or the birds who warn the flock of an approaching hawk ? Do they contravene the fundamental law of gene selfishness ? By no means: Dawkins shows that the selfish gene is also the subtle gene. And he holds out the hope that our species - alone on earth - has the power to rebel against the designs of the selfish gene."

Written in 1989 it was Dawkin's first book. Pretty much puts pay to "Nature isn't about the continuation of the species."