“Do you want to be immortal?” asked Dr. Nathaniel Adams.
“No sir, absolutely not,” responded Gabriel Edmund Nero Eduard.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes sir, I’ve seen examples of people who’ve tried to become immortal, and I don’t want to be one of them!”
“People like who?”
“Well, you see, there’s Gilgamesh, sir, who tried to become immortal by building the city of Uruk.”
“Any other examples?”
“Yes, sir: John Wilkes Booth, with the assassination of President Lincoln. William Shakespeare, with the composition of plays like MacBeth, Hamlet, and Othello, and also Charles Darwin through his famous theory of evolution and natural selection.”
“Interesting, G.E.N.E. What can you say about Darwin?”
“Well, I know he was this famous guy who presented evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through a process called natural selection.”
“Then is it adequate to say that ‘We are all survival machines for the same kind of replicator (21)?”
“Well, that’s a bit non-sequitur with our conversation, sir.”
“Not at all. If we are ‘survival machines’, that means that we are striving for survival in evolution. We are avoiding to be forgotten in this process.”
“Oh, that explains the question about immortality,” said Gabriel Edmund Nero Eduard.
“Indeed,” and by saying that, their conversation started to refer to immortality, and how we’ve tried to achieve it as human beings during evolution…
I couldn’t avoid hearing these two characters talk while waiting in line for the premier of The Selfish Gene, an awaited text that had created much excitement amongst biologists. Even though their conversation was rather interesting, they were being too superficial about the topic of immortality and evolution. I believe that genes are in constant competition with each other, since “they are called alleles. For our purposes, the word allele is synonymous to rival” (26). Since the moment we are born, genes evoke competition for our eye color, blood type, hair color, etc. They are selfish, according to this man who wrote the book. Why selfish? I don’t know, that’s why I’m in line to buy that book…
“You forgot to mention one example of immortality,” said Dr. Nathaniel Adams arriving at the counter where the author of the book, Richard Dawkins, was signing autographs.
“Well, I know, there are many examples I missed: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Voltaire, etc. I could make an entire list of the Founding Fathers, the Presidents of the United States, the French Philosophes, if you wish,” said Gabriel Edmund Nero Eduard.
“Not quite, G.E.N.E, but I am still looking for another example.”
“Come on, can you please tell me what could it be?”
“Think about it,” and by saying this, Dr. N.A and his companion arrived to the counter where Mr. Dawkins was.
“Good evening, gentlemen. I couldn’t avoid overhearing your conversation, but you are quite true there is another example of what’s immortal,” said Mr. Dawkins.
“Can you help him out?” asked Dr. N.A glancing at Mr. Dawkins’ hand flourishing its autograph on the cover page of The Selfish Gene.
“Well, it’s quite simple, ‘when we have served our purpose we are cast aside. But genes are denizens of geological time: genes are forever” (35).
“Thank you, Mr. Dawkins,” and with these words they left the line, and I was next with Mr. Dawkins.
I didn’t establish a conversation with him. After listening to those two characters talk, I remained quiet, thinking about immortality and how to achieve it. Man’s great ambition is immortality. We hear myths about the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir Of Life, about alchemists who yearn to live eternally. After Richard Dawkins signed my new copy of The Selfish Gene, I left the premier. As I was leaving, I heard a man shout in the background: “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” I kept walking away through the darkness of the night. Wait a second. Genes are selfish, but still they are immortal? I thought that the altruists were those who remained immortal. It’s relative. George Washington was altruist. John Wilkes Booth was selfish. Still, both remained immortal.
“No sir, absolutely not,” responded Gabriel Edmund Nero Eduard.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes sir, I’ve seen examples of people who’ve tried to become immortal, and I don’t want to be one of them!”
“People like who?”
“Well, you see, there’s Gilgamesh, sir, who tried to become immortal by building the city of Uruk.”
“Any other examples?”
“Yes, sir: John Wilkes Booth, with the assassination of President Lincoln. William Shakespeare, with the composition of plays like MacBeth, Hamlet, and Othello, and also Charles Darwin through his famous theory of evolution and natural selection.”
“Interesting, G.E.N.E. What can you say about Darwin?”
“Well, I know he was this famous guy who presented evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through a process called natural selection.”
“Then is it adequate to say that ‘We are all survival machines for the same kind of replicator (21)?”
“Well, that’s a bit non-sequitur with our conversation, sir.”
“Not at all. If we are ‘survival machines’, that means that we are striving for survival in evolution. We are avoiding to be forgotten in this process.”
“Oh, that explains the question about immortality,” said Gabriel Edmund Nero Eduard.
“Indeed,” and by saying that, their conversation started to refer to immortality, and how we’ve tried to achieve it as human beings during evolution…
I couldn’t avoid hearing these two characters talk while waiting in line for the premier of The Selfish Gene, an awaited text that had created much excitement amongst biologists. Even though their conversation was rather interesting, they were being too superficial about the topic of immortality and evolution. I believe that genes are in constant competition with each other, since “they are called alleles. For our purposes, the word allele is synonymous to rival” (26). Since the moment we are born, genes evoke competition for our eye color, blood type, hair color, etc. They are selfish, according to this man who wrote the book. Why selfish? I don’t know, that’s why I’m in line to buy that book…
“You forgot to mention one example of immortality,” said Dr. Nathaniel Adams arriving at the counter where the author of the book, Richard Dawkins, was signing autographs.
“Well, I know, there are many examples I missed: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Voltaire, etc. I could make an entire list of the Founding Fathers, the Presidents of the United States, the French Philosophes, if you wish,” said Gabriel Edmund Nero Eduard.
“Not quite, G.E.N.E, but I am still looking for another example.”
“Come on, can you please tell me what could it be?”
“Think about it,” and by saying this, Dr. N.A and his companion arrived to the counter where Mr. Dawkins was.
“Good evening, gentlemen. I couldn’t avoid overhearing your conversation, but you are quite true there is another example of what’s immortal,” said Mr. Dawkins.
“Can you help him out?” asked Dr. N.A glancing at Mr. Dawkins’ hand flourishing its autograph on the cover page of The Selfish Gene.
“Well, it’s quite simple, ‘when we have served our purpose we are cast aside. But genes are denizens of geological time: genes are forever” (35).
“Thank you, Mr. Dawkins,” and with these words they left the line, and I was next with Mr. Dawkins.
I didn’t establish a conversation with him. After listening to those two characters talk, I remained quiet, thinking about immortality and how to achieve it. Man’s great ambition is immortality. We hear myths about the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir Of Life, about alchemists who yearn to live eternally. After Richard Dawkins signed my new copy of The Selfish Gene, I left the premier. As I was leaving, I heard a man shout in the background: “What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” I kept walking away through the darkness of the night. Wait a second. Genes are selfish, but still they are immortal? I thought that the altruists were those who remained immortal. It’s relative. George Washington was altruist. John Wilkes Booth was selfish. Still, both remained immortal.
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