Concluding An Introduction

As I approach the end of Dawkins journey, I start thinking of my first blogs. My comments ranged from a book that proposes some great ideas to a book that clearly did not make sense. As I mentioned in Writing: An Expression, the way Dawkins introduces new ideas is amazing. I may not agree with many of the ideas planted but I do believe that the way they are planted is very captivating. The reader feels as if he had a connection with the author. The way Dawkins ended the book was very abrupt. Maybe because this is a science book and not a novel, the author has the liberty to be abrupt. I have no doubt even though some of the evidence used in the book is outdated, the main ideas are still valid. Every chapter focuses on a different topic, which in turn revolves around the main idea. This allows certain pieces of the book to be eliminated and others to be studied without hurting the readers understanding. Dawkins was able to make his ideas immortal.

The conclusion to his ideas is not only a summary of what was mentioned previously but an introduction to new ones: “a parasite whose genes aspire to the same destiny as the genes of its host shares all the interests of its host and will eventually cease to act parasitically” (245). This idea made me think of what a parasite is. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, a parasite is “an organism that lives in or on another organism (its host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the host's expense”. As this last idea moves around in my head, I realized that the whole book is based on this example. The same principle of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is used. The parasites original purpose (as the definition states) was to benefit at the expense of another. If this parasite realized that this other wants the same things it needs they will work together. As soon as the other person does not have our same inters in mind he is expendable. The parasite principle will then come into effect and we will take all that we can from him before he dies. This simple example is all that I needed in order to form the connection that the whole book has wanted me to form. Every person learns in a different way and maybe that is what the rest o the examples are for. Everybody has part of the Selfish Gene; however, some people are better at hiding it.