bloom america

Chapter 988

Where do we come from, and where will we go? What is the meaning of life, and how should we know ourselves?

——"The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins.

Catherine, who read this book carefully, did not know that it was a book that came out more than half a year in advance.

But this book gave Catherine a great inspiration.

Richard Dawkins is an academician of the Royal Academy of Sciences, a professor at Oxford University, a famous popular science writer, and a biologist. He is the most famous atheist in the world.

Richard Dawkins publicly stated his identity as an atheist on April 30, 2005, so at this time, the other party was actually still "undercover."

Fortunately, Jenny was able to find such a book that had just been published not long ago.

However, Catherine is not very familiar with this knowledge...

Similarly, Richard Dawkins is also the most controversial evolutionary biologist in the world. Dawkins published the book "The Selfish Gene" in 1976 - but it seems that it is now slightly earlier due to the butterfly effect.

, thrust him into the spotlight as a handsome, irascible representative of scientific reductionism.

The book argued that natural selection exerts its creative power solely through genes—not through species or individuals—causing reactions ranging from anger to joy. In the book, he claimed that humans are simply

It is the “genetic survival machine”.

After reading this book, Hayfrick seemed to be quite interested. He also said: "The higher form of life will be an existence that is free from genetic constraints. And at this time, I...

Trying in the opposite direction..."

This sentence is actually a joke, after all, not everyone is like this.

No one can tell what a higher form of life is.

This is like the difference between humans and animals. With the intelligence of animals, they will not realize the huge gap between them and humans.

Originally, Catherine wanted to find a way to contact this person, but soon, Catherine discovered that she had another way.

——They are all members of Mensa.

So Catherine contacted this Richard Dawkins through this channel.

In Catherine's view, such a person with an in-depth understanding and research of genes will definitely have a positive impact on her experiments. Maybe the next research will be better?

With this idea in mind, Catherine contacted the other party.

Catherine's long-distance phone calls have a special feature. That is, receiving calls is free, and Catherine pays for it here, so it doesn't matter how long the call lasts.

Perhaps because of Hayfrick's joke, Catherine seems to be more interested in "evolution".

"This is Dawkins."

When the call got through, Catherine finally felt relieved.

"Hello, Mr. Dawkins. This is Catherine Edson. I am also a member of Mensa."

In her previous life, Catherine didn't know whether Dawkins was a member of Mensa, but in this life, he seemed to be just right.

"Catherine Edson...? Is this the Catherine Edson who invented the Internet?!"

The other party obviously recognized Catherine's identity.

At this time, Catherine also roughly guessed that the other party was probably very interested in the Internet.

Generally speaking, when others know their identity, they are probably movie actors.

But this time Catherine was different.

The other party actually mentioned "Internet" first.

This means that the other party is probably more interested in the Internet.

Probably the other party is also interested in computers, but the first thing he mentioned was "Internet". That means that in the other party's mind, the Internet is more important.

It is very likely that the other party conducts some academic exchanges through the Internet - after all, the only place that can communicate with scientists from all over the world is the Internet.

"I recently read your book "The Selfish Gene" and it has attracted me deeply."

Based on the book, Catherine wants to get closer to the other party.

This person is not an ordinary person. Such a technician is definitely powerful, and it is very likely that like Hayfrick, he can help her solve some difficult puzzles, so Catherine needs the other person's help.

"You have positioned the unit of evolutionary selection from the individual to the genes that create the individual. This is very surprising to me..."

Well, in fact, Hive Lab started research based on this, so Catherine will just talk about it.

But who doesn’t like to be praised?

"To be honest, I was prepared to be scolded, but I didn't expect that the first person who called me would actually praise me."

What the other party said seemed to be self-deprecating.

But no one knew about Catherine. What the other party said was almost the truth.

Because this is the mainstream of this era, it is not this idea at all, even those who also support evolution do not think this way.

To be honest, after reading this book, Catherine really thought it was a good story.

Selfish genes cannot think, but we created by these genes can not only understand ourselves, but also have unprecedented opportunities to escape their silent control.

Dawkins said in the book: "Let us try to instill generosity and altruism into people's minds through education! Because we are born selfish. Let us understand the purpose of our selfish genes. Because in this way we

At least there's a chance to disrupt their plans, something other species never hope to do."

This is a book on "Evil Nature", and his views are very similar to Mencius.

He proposed the idea that human selfishness is derived from human genes.

This is also a book of despair.

But in this book that makes some people despair, the author's interpretation of human civilization is to a large extent the greatest value of this book.

In the book, Dawkins jokingly uses the coined word meme to describe the ideas in the human mind. As for the spread and survival of these ideas, Dawkins believes that Darwin's theory of evolution can be used to explore them.

Following each other's book, the two quickly opened up the topic.

Dawkins conducted some communications with other people through the Internet. Therefore, although this book was written earlier than historically, the value of this book now is higher than historically.

After opening the topic, it was much easier to say the following words. Then Catherine asked about the question of evolution, and she was going to start from this topic.

"The forms of life have been changing since ancient times, but unfortunately, so far, there are only a few people in the world who can accept the theory of species evolution."

Catherine cut the topic like this.

And these words seemed to hit the "g" point of the other party, Dawkins said: "Some people often say that because evolution happened in the past and we did not see it happen, there is no direct evidence of evolution. This is of course

Nonsense. It's more like a detective coming to a crime scene - obviously after the crime has been committed - and looking at the clues left behind to figure out what must have happened. For evolution, there are countless such clues. No matter

Anyway, this cannot be changed."

"The clues to evolution come from DNA codes distributed throughout the animal and plant kingdoms, protein sequences and morphological features that have been analyzed in great detail. Everything fits the idea that there is a simple branching tree. If evolution is a

In fact, you will find that the distribution of species on islands and continents around the world

Cloth is consistent with the theory of evolution. If evolution is a fact, you will find that the spatiotemporal distribution of fossils is consistent with the theory of evolution. Countless facts all point in the same direction, and none of the facts point in the wrong direction. The truth is established. It is

It's there, but unfortunately many people choose to ignore it."

"That sounds really unfortunate." Catherine smiled.

The other party has already taken the bait.

"Human beings are constantly evolving, and we can always find some surprises..."

Catherine was going to tell Mr. Dawkins about the recent code-named protein "A", then arouse his interest, and finally lure him over with a high salary...

"Yes, but unfortunately, in human society, there are always some people who are preventing us from discovering freedom..."

"ah……"

Catherine was about to change the subject, but she didn't expect that Richard Dawkins over there suddenly became distressed... What is going on?

Then, Catherine slapped her forehead and understood.

I am still too reserved.

In China, the relationship between people is something that must be dealt with, but in Europe and the United States, interests are more important. Because they don’t have that large population, they don’t need to deal with complicated interpersonal relationships. Of course, things don’t need to be dealt with.

Too much trouble.

So Catherine simply said it bluntly at this time: "I believe, Mr. Dawkins, you must be interested in the miraculous drug that can rejuvenate youth some time ago, right?"

"...Do you want to invite me to the Hive Laboratory?"

If you speak directly, the other party will understand.

Catherine burst into tears.

"Yes, I think your talent will be very helpful for the next development. This kind of medicine born from the existence of ancient genes, I believe it will definitely interest you, and the salary I pay is definitely quite

Considerable.”

Catherine finally had an idea.

But Dawkins over there was also going through a storm in his heart.

Such a thing will then fall on you?

Dawkins raised his eyebrows and felt something strange.

Dawkins also studied that miraculous drug that can rejuvenate people. At that time, he doubted whether it was a genetic drug.

And now, he has a chance to prove his idea.

"You convinced me..."

After hearing this, Catherine finally felt relieved.

Yeah! Another great scientist was found!

Hmm... Speaking of which, Hawking seems to be in the UK now, right?

Do you want to turn around together...?