A different approach to understanding the life and behavior of living beings
We are created by our genes. We animals exist to preserve them and only serve as machines to ensure their survival. The world of the selfish gene is a world of fierce competition, ruthless exploitation and deception. Well, what about the acts of altruism seen in nature: bees that commit suicide when they sting an enemy to protect the hive, or birds that risk their lives to warn a flock of the approach of a hawk? Does this contradict the fundamental law of gene selfishness? In no case! Dawkins shows that the selfish gene is also a cunning gene. And he cherishes the hope that the species Homo sapiens — the only one in the entire globe — will be able to rebel against the intentions of the selfish gene. The translation is verified against the 2006 jubilee English edition.
© Richard Dawkins, 1989
© N. Fomina, translation into Russian, 1993
© P. Petrov, translation of the foreword into Russian, 2013
© A. Bondarenko, design, 2013
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