Richard Dawkins

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1. 01

   It is not really the whole animal that "wants" to survive — its genes use the body as a temporary vehicle to copy themselves onward.

   The Selfish Gene · 1976

   Genes use the body as a temporary vehicle to copy themselves into future generations.

   Dawkins suggested thinking of an animal's body as a machine built specifically for its genes, replaced each generation. Genes that help the body survive and reproduce spread more widely. So behaviors that look selfless, like a bird defending its chicks, can actually be serving the genes underneath.

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