Quote by Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gen

The argument of this book is that we, and all other animals, are machines created by our genes. Like successful Chicago gangsters, our genes have survived, in some cases for millions of years, in a highly competitive world. This entitles us to expect certain qualities in our genes. I shall argue that a predominant quality to be expected in a successful gene is ruthless selfishness. This gene selfishness will usually give rise to selfishness in individual behavior. However, as we shall see, there are special circumstances in which a gene can achieve its own selfish goals best by fostering a limited form of altruism at the level of individual animals. 'Special' and 'limited' are important words in the last sentence. Much as we might wish to believe otherwise, universal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts that simply do not make evolutionary sense.

Summary

In this quote from Richard Dawkins' book "The Selfish Gene", he argues that all living beings, including humans, are essentially machines created by our genes. According to Dawkins, successful genes have survived through intense competition, and as a result, they have developed a predominant quality of ruthless selfishness. This selfishness often manifests in individual behavior. However, Dawkins acknowledges that there are certain situations where genes achieve their own goals by encouraging limited forms of altruism in individual animals, though he emphasizes the words "special" and "limited". He also challenges the idea of universal love and the welfare of the species as concepts that are unsupported by evolutionary reasoning.