When it comes to the study of altruism I do not agree that we have a selfish gene or a selfless gene. After reading "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins and the "Selfless Gene" by Olivia Judson I came to see that they both disagree with me. I think that selflessness or selfishness does not come from a gene it comes from the way you where rased and the morals you may have. This may also come by instinct.
In the "Selfless Gene" By Olivia Judson she agrees that humans and animals should be more kind to each other. If we would be more of the selfless gene passed down there would be less murder or hatred. The author states ".. the main cause of death for juveniles was other Belding's ground squirrels;" (Judson 95). This quote shows that squirrels are using there instincts to survive. No one will really know why they squirrel killed the juvenile squirrels maybe the older squirrels thought that one day they might have to compete with the younger ones so they killed them. A second quote the author uses is "think of the firemen going into the World Trade Center- or for people they knew but are not related to" (Judson 92). The men who went into the world trade center to save those people because that's there job to protect and help those in need. This t doesn't show that they have selfless gene once again its a case of instinct but as well as that willingness to protect people. The author Richard Dawkins states "If you have one copy of gene H, the chance that any particular one of your children has it is 50 per cent, because half your sex cells contain H" (Dawkins 61). I disagree with this quote because that means being a brat, mean, depressed, etc can all come from genes.
These two authors have different opinions Olivia Judson is much more cooperative and thinks people and animals should work together. Olivia Judson's is much more easy to understand even though I don't agree with either Judson or Dawkins.
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