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Survival Machines
Survival machines represent all the different organisms in the world. Every living being is a survival machine, including cells, viruses, algae, parasites, beetles, mice, whales, humans, and everything in between. Dawkins calls living things survival…
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Primeval Soup
Primeval soup is an environment in which very simple replicators have formed. In the natural world, primeval soup is the simplicity of the universe in its very early stages, when it would have just been…
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Architect’s Plans
Just as an architect’s plans give instructions for how to make a building, genes give instructions for how to build an embryo. Dawkins uses the metaphor of architect’s plans to explain how genes are distributed…
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Oarsmen
Dawkins uses the analogy of oarsmen to explain that a gene only cooperates with other genes when cooperation increases the chances of its survival. In the analogy, oarsmen (or rowers) are individual genes. A rowboat…
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Andromedans
Dawkins uses the metaphor of a fictional alien race called “Andromedans” to explain how genes control the bodies of organisms. Andromedans are aliens who want to control planet earth. Unfortunately, they live very far away…
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Get the entire The Selfish Gene LitChart as a printable PDF.
