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John Maynard Smith
A biologist who believes, like Dawkins, Maynard Smith, Trivers, Fisher, and Williams, that evolution happens to genes, and not species. Dawkins borrows from Hamilton, the rhetorical device of personifying the gene to explain its behavior. Both scientists imagine that genes act as if on purpose, meaning genes can be described with metaphors like “selfish” or “cooperating,” when in reality genes are not conscious in that way. This rhetorical device enables Dawkins to explain evolution from a hypothetical “gene’s eye view.” Dawkins also borrows Hamilton’s method of calculating the genetic relatedness between two individuals.
William (Bill) D. Hamilton Quotes in The Selfish Gene
The The Selfish Gene quotes below are all either spoken by William (Bill) D. Hamilton or refer to William (Bill) D. Hamilton. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 12 Quotes
I agree with Axelrod and Hamilton that many wild animals and plants are engaged in ceaseless games of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, played out in evolutionary time.
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After discussing cultural evolution, Dawkins returns to the topic of biological evolution. He decides to tackle the issue of reciprocal altruism. He’s already argued that relatives are kind to each other because they share a lot of genes, and acts of selflessness help their genes living in other bodies to survive. Now he addresses cases in which unrelated individuals are nice to each other. Animals often groom each other, for example, to pick parasites off each other’s backs or heads, typically from places that an animal can’t reach on their own body. It would seem that this altruistic. Group selectionists Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut vol
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William (Bill) D. Hamilton Character Timeline in The Selfish Gene
The timeline below shows where the character William (Bill) D. Hamilton appears in The Selfish Gene. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Preface to the First Edition
...evolve. These “gene’s eye view” scientists are George C. Williams, John Maynard Smith, William D. Hamilton, and Robert L. Trivers.
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Chapter 6: Genesmanship
...the altruism between family members happens in proportion to their shared genes, so he uses Hamilton’s research. Hamilton worked out a system for calculating the odds of two individuals sharing genes....
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...Wilson, for example, thinks kin selection is a special kind of group selection. Dawkins disagrees. Hamilton’s research shows that it doesn’t matter so much exactly how two people are related. What...
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Chapter 10: You Scratch My Back, I’ll Ride on Yours
...makes good “selfish” sense, since it makes catching prey easier. Dawkins borrows another explanation from Hamilton, who thinks that running as a herd also has selfish motivations. Animals on the edge...
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...but selfish behavior. This division of labor keeps all their genes in the gene pool. Hamilton discovered that “the Hymenoptera” (insects including ants, bees, and wasps) determine sex differently. Unfertilized eggs...
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Chapter 12: Nice Guys Finish First
...This is the individual who engages in “reciprocal altruism.” Dawkins agrees with Robert Axelrod and Hamilton that many wild animals are “engaged in ceaseless games of the Prisoner’s Dilemma, played out...
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Epilogue to 40th Anniversary Edition
...He uses the definition of “gene” created by Williams (also used by Maynard Smith and Hamilton). Williams defines the gene as “any portion of chromosomal material that potentially lasts for enough...
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...live on for millions of years in the form of exact copies of themselves. Bill Hamilton calculated genetic relatedness by thinking about how much more related one is to kin than...
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