The Extended Phenotype
by Richard Dawkins, Wolfgang Mayer · first published 1981
56% recommend42% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Follow-up to The Selfish Gene that extends gene-centred thinking to effects beyond the body, in lucid writing. Suits readers with some science background who want Dawkins's deeper, more original argument.
Common criticism: Technical and harder to grasp than The Selfish Gene
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
By suggesting that individual organisms should be viewed as a single coherent unit, working to maximize their own reproductive success, the author explains that as these organisms are "selfish" they have the capacity to effect the body of another animal, so revolutionizing our views of adaptation.
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The classic work on this topic is "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins, and its more technical sibling, "The Extended Phenotype."
on “Mosaicism: The genome varies from cell to cell” ↗I highly recommend the book "The Extended Phenotype," by Richard Dawkins. These are hardly new debates.
on “Gendercide: The worldwide war on baby girls” ↗…response. I think that function is the appropriate criteria here. Functionally, it is serving as memory. There's no magic difference between inside the body and outside of it. Richard Dawkins' The Extended Phenotype http://www.amazon.com/Extended-Phenotype-Reach-Popular-Scien... is a good read on this sort of stuff (it's a little bit more technical than his other books, but still readable by someone without a biology…
on “Organism without a brain creates external memories for navigation” ↗…to applied evolutionary psychology, using corporations as a case study. If you'd like the reasons behind why his work is valid, I'd recommend starting with Richard Dawkins' Selfish Gene followed by The Extended Phenotype. The sections on game theory are particularly insightful, as they describe how competing strategies reach equilibrium in a given environment. You will find the strategies described are quite similar to…
on “I quit my job” ↗The Extended Phenotype: Richard Dawkins. Applied Cryptography: Bruce Schiener. Linear Algebra: Friedberg, Insel and Spence. Steven Pinker: The Blank Slate I've recently finished Dan Gilbert's: Stumbling on Happiness and I…
on “Ask HN: What's on your reading list? Recommendations? ” ↗I'm guessing you mean excluding textbooks The Extended Phenotype Your Inner Fish Thinking Fast and Slow The Information Chaos Statistics in Plain English Fortune's Formula Fooled by Randomness A Random Walk Down Wall St. How to Win Friends and Influence…
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗1984/Homage To Catalonia by George Orwell Manufacturing Consent/Necessary Illusions by Noam Chomsky(Possibly even more relevant today than it's ever been) The Selfish Gene/The Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins The Republic by Plato The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions by Kuhn
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗…it is a pity to see a confusing one mentioned on HN. I personally recommend Almost Like a Whale: The 'Origin of Species' Updated by Steve Jones for a popular rendering and The Blind Watchmaker and The Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins for those wanting a more technical explanation. A disclaimer: unlike itchyjunk I really am not an expert, just a moderately well read engineer with physics degree.
on “Urban Evolution: How Species Adapt, or Don't, to City Living” ↗This is an example of an "extended phenotype" as written about in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Extended_Phenotype by Richard Dawkins (invented the word meme). Great concept, although harder to grasp than The Selfish Gene. It is a bit like…
on “Ant Colonies Retain Memories That Outlast the Lifespans of Individuals” ↗Some while ago I reread Richard Dawkins's The Extended Phenotype, which he has referred to as his favorite work. You could say it's the logical follow up on The Selfish Gene, quite technical and expert-oriented, but Dawkins is such a talented and lucid writer that…
on “Ask HN: Which books have you read more than once?” ↗…Dennett, "Consciousness Explained". > What are things beautiful? What makes something ascetically pleasing. Read Richard Dawkins, "The Selfish Gene" (and, if you want to get deep into these weeds, "The Extended Phenotype"). > Why any of this exists at all? What makes you think that any of this does exist at all? > What is the purpose of this existence? What makes you think that this existence has a purpose? > Is…
on “Time Doesn’t Belong to Physics” ↗You should read the extended phenotype by Richard Dawkins if you haven't already
on “A Revelation About Trees Is Messing with Climate Calculations” ↗…importance of The Selfish Gene is to write a correct summary of the neo-Darwinian project. In the future (perhaps even now), it will be more famous for the coining of meme (in an appendix IIRC). However, The Extended Phenotype is a remarkably original exposition of important (then) contemporary frontiers of Darwinism. It is a powerful idea, powerfully described. It is certainly his most important original contribution to the…
on “Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read?” ↗The Selfish Gene and The Extended Phenotype (Richard Dawkins)
on “Reading list for those who love to learn” ↗The Extended Phenotype by Richard Dawkins.
on “What book has inspired you the most?” ↗