maandag 5 augustus 2013

De geschiedenis bezien vanuit het gen


Eerst dit:

"We look at life and begin by seeing a collection of interacting individual organisms. We know that they contain smaller units, and we know that they are, in turn, parts of larger composite units, but we fix our gaze on the whole organisms. Then suddenly the image flips. The individual bodies are still there; they have not moved, but they seem to have gone transparent. We see through them to the replicating fragments of DNA within, and we see the wider world as an arena in which these genetic fragments play out their tournaments of manipulative skill. Genes manipulate the world and shape it to assist their replication. [...] Fundamentally, what is going on is that replicating molecules ensure their survival by means of phenotypic effects on the world." (Richard Dawkins 1982, The Extended Phenotype, pp. 4-5)
 
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