Cover of The Selfish Gene

Book · 1976 · Evolution (Biology)

The Selfish Gene

by Richard Dawkins · Recommended by 32 people on 17 podcasts

#36 of 17,010 books, ranked by how many different people bring it up on podcasts

mentions
66
people
32
podcasts
17
episodes
45
recommendations
3

We earn a commission if you buy through the store links below, at no cost to you.

I was very impacted by The Selfish Gene. I thought that was a really good book that helped me understand altruism as an example and where it comes from, and just realizing that, you know, the selection is in the level of genes was a huge insight for me at the time, and it sort of like cleared up a.
Andrej Karpathy · Lex Fridman Podcast · Oct 2022 Listen at 3:09:46

What they say about it

Grouped from 66 mentions
  • Introduced the concept of memes
    5
  • Coined the term meme“coined the term meme”
    4
  • Gene centered view of evolution“selection is in the level of genes”
    4
  • Impactful reading experience“I was very impacted by”
    3

The best things said about it

6 of 66 · every mention
Recommended
Um I like the book uh selfish Gene um because uh you understand more like about Free Will and makes you like question a little stuff uh but it's the idea of like you can live on either through like jeans or through ideas.
Chip Huyen The Pragmatic Engineer · Feb 2025
Discussed
Going back to Richard Dawkins his famous book The Selfish Gene where he posed the question how could niceness and generosity and cooperation evolve given that in Darwinian competition you'd expect the the most aggressive the most selfish to predominate.
Steven Pinker The Joe Rogan Experience · Feb 2018
Discussed
At its center is this idea of memes: a simple definition is a funny image that spreads virally, and the deeper definition was originally by Richard Dawkins, who introduced the idea of memes as concepts that spread in society in a way akin to genes.
On the show The Ben & Marc Show · Oct 2024
Discussed
Richard Dawkins two books the blind watchmaker and The Selfish Gene or enormous Li influential partly for mainly for the content but also for the writing style.
Steven Pinker Lex Fridman Podcast · Oct 2018
Discussed
So this is Dawkins argument in The Selfish Gene that that the gene is the is this is the thing we should be focused on not the body.
Michael Shermer The Joe Rogan Experience · Jan 2018
Discussed
So correct me if I'm wrong but in your book selfish Gene the the gene centered view of evolution of allows us to think of the physical organisms as just the medium through which the software of our genetics and the ideas sort of propagate.
Lex Fridman Lex Fridman Podcast · Apr 2020

Where and when it comes up

Mentions by year

320174201822019420203202152022620231020244202512026so far

Podcast episodes that discussed The Selfish Gene, by year. One episode counts once, however often the book came up.

Number 94 of the most mentioned books on podcasts in 2025

Number 24 of the most mentioned books on podcasts in 2024

How it comes up

Recommended means the speaker tells listeners to read it.

Most mentions, by podcast

Top 9 of 17 shows

32 people who brought it up

Most recommendations first

Also: Graham Hancock · Lex Fridman · Matt Ridley · Michael Shermer · Richard Prum · Tyler Cowen · Ben Bowlin · Bryan Callen · Charlie Songhurst · Chris Williamson · Dr. Dacher Keltner · Dwarkesh Patel · Jason Silva · Joe Rogan · Joseph LeDoux · Quinn Slobodian · Richard Dawkins · Rikki Schlott · Rupert Sheldrake · Russell Brand

Why people recommend it

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a prominent 1976 work of evolutionary biology that popularizes the gene-centric view of evolution. The book has received significant commentary from thinkers across various platforms. Chip Huyen recommended the text on The Pragmatic Engineer for how it illuminates free will and the concept of survival through either genes or ideas. Andrej Karpathy recounted on the Lex Fridman Podcast that the book deeply impacted his understanding of altruism and genetic selection, providing him with a massive insight that clarified evolutionary mechanics. Other commentators have analyzed its broader cultural and historical implications. Quinn Slobodian mentioned the book on The Ezra Klein Show while tracing the origin of Richard Dawkins's coining of the term meme, while Bret Weinstein discussed it on The Joe Rogan Experience as a synthesis of adaptive evolution mechanisms. Steven Pinker on EconTalk and Joe Rogan on separate podcast episodes also noted the volume's role in addressing evolutionary puzzles regarding cooperation and explaining the conceptual roots of internet culture. Finally, Jordan Peterson examined the implications of Dawkins's theories on human reproduction and parenting on his podcast, demonstrating the far-reaching influence of the book across diverse intellectual discussions.

Every mention

66 counted mentions · 10 passing or ad reads below
Andrej Karpathy I was very impacted by the selfish Gene I thought that was a really good book that helped me understand alt… 2
Recommended
“I was very impacted by the selfish Gene I thought that was a really good book that helped me understand altruism as an example and where it comes from and just realizing that you know the selection is in the level of genes was a huge insight for me at the time and it sort of like cleared up a”
Recommended
“I was very impacted by 'The Selfish Gene.' I thought that was a really good book that helped me understand altruism as an example and where it comes from, and just realizing that, you know, the selection is in the level of genes was a huge insight for me at the time, and it sort of like cleared up a”
Chip Huyen um I like the book uh selfish Gene um because uh you understand more like about Free Will and makes you lik… 1
Recommended
“um I like the book uh selfish Gene um because uh you understand more like about Free Will and makes you like question a little stuff uh but it's the idea of like you can live on either through like jeans or through ideas”
Jordan Peterson so I was thinking about this in relationship to Dawkins theory of The Selfish Gene 6
Discussed
“so I was thinking about this in relationship to Dawkins theory of The Selfish Gene”
Discussed
“So I was thinking about this in relationship to Dawkins' theory of The Selfish Gene; it's like the implication of The Selfish Gene is that reproduction takes privacy and that there's no difference between reproduction and sex. But that's not true; there's a big difference between reproduction and sex, especially among human beings because we're high-investment parents.”
Discussed
“because his book The Selfish Gene what what what would you say the the the the sense that that desire is there is implicit in the text and so that has very Troublesome metaphysical implications”
Discussed
“the bitter pill is in chapter 11 of The Selfish Gene where he presents the concept of memes”
Critiqued
“The bitter pill is in Chapter 11 of The Selfish Gene, where he presents the concept of memes. For the first time, he says that memes are a new primeval suit; he sees it as a new evolutionary realm where creatures are beginning to form.”
Discussed
“I tweeted out about Richard Dawkins recently, and I talked to Richard Dawkins, and I actually admire him. I liked his books; they taught me a lot, including some of his essays.”
Neil deGrasse Tyson So you've written – I mean I have a list here of, like, all your books; you've been out of control, but not… 5
Discussed
“Was The Selfish Gene your first book? Yes. Back in 1976.”
Discussed
“So you've written – I mean I have a list here of, like, all your books; you've been out of control, but not as much as some people. Was The Selfish Gene your first book? Yes, back in 1976.”
Discussed
“If I may, so start off The Selfish Gene. Natural selection chooses between genes; genes are the only thing. The information contained in genes, digital information is the only thing that goes from generation to generation; that which survives is information, digital information.”
Discussed
“You came up with the word meme; I know it was you. That was in The Selfish Gene. You invented the word, and people long forgot.”
Discussed
“i've got the list i've read the selfish gene”
Steve Levitt and Richard Dawkins who's the author of The Selfish Gene wrote one of the most over-the-top prefaces I've e… 5
Discussed
“I have to start with a confession before last week i' never read your book to selfish genene I have now and I was quite shocked at how eye openening the book was for me”
Discussed
“One of the most striking chapters in The Selfish Gene is chapter 11 on memes, and I've often heard people say, 'Oh, Richard Dawkins created the term meme,' but I always honestly thought of memes as being somewhat trivial because now they're very much associated with internet fads.”
Discussed
“About the same time you were writing The Selfish Gene, Gary Becker was writing a book on the economics of the family, and a lot of the same trade-offs are in place.”
Discussed
“So you talk in The Selfish Gene about the quantity of children and the trade-off between more offspring and higher investment and so better outcomes per child.”
Discussed
“and Richard Dawkins who's the author of The Selfish Gene wrote one of the most over-the-top prefaces I've ever seen for a later edition of the book that must have felt really good”
Bret Weinstein Um the selfish gene provides us a mechanism. It's basically a synthesis of what we understand about adaptiv… 4
Discussed
“Um the selfish gene provides us a mechanism. It's basically a synthesis of what we understand about adaptive evolution.”
Discussed
“but the last piece of theoretical progress actually involves Dawkins Selfish Gene we essentially encapsulates a synthesis that does lots of things including brings a proper theory of cultural evolution online... so to the extent that we did not have a way of discussing cultural evolution prior to the Selfish Gene Dawkins introduction of the concept of memes”
Discussed
“the last piece of theoretical progress actually involves Dawkins Selfish Gene”
Discussed
“chapter 11 he introduces the word meme he introduces the concept he sets us in motion”
Gad Saad So think back of Richard Dawkins, uh, when he introduced the concept of the meme in his 1976 book, The Self… 3
Discussed
“So think back of Richard Dawkins, uh, when he introduced the concept of the meme in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene.”
Discussed
“So, a meme is a term that Richard Dawkins coined in his book uh in 1976, selfish gene.”
Discussed
“So a meme is a term that Richard Dawkins coined in his book uh in 1976, selfish gene.”
Sheldon Solomon and even folks uh like um oh selfish gene richard dawkins he writes in the 1970s that he finds it inconceiv… 3
Discussed
“and even folks uh like um oh selfish gene richard dawkins he writes in the 1970s that he finds it inconceivable that consciousness uh has no functional value”
Discussed
“uh this i'm going here from richard dawkins uh the selfish gene you know to i love the early dawkins”
Discussed
“but the dawkins in the selfish gene um is very thoughtful”
Steven Pinker Richard Dawkins two books the blind watchmaker and The Selfish Gene or enormous Li influential partly for m… 3
Discussed
“It was made famous 50 years ago in Richard Dawkins's book the ­ the selfish gene ­ where it because it poses a puzzle for evolutionary biology...”
Discussed
“Richard Dawkins two books the blind watchmaker and The Selfish Gene or enormous Li influential partly for mainly for the content but also for the writing style”
Discussed
“going back to Richard Dawkins his famous book The Selfish Gene where he posed the question how could niceness and generosity and cooperation evolve given that in Darwinian competition you'd expect the the most aggressive the most selfish to predominate”
David Buss First advanced this hypothesis in the preface, in 1976 to Dawkins' book, The Selfish Gene. 2
Discussed
“First advanced this hypothesis in the preface, in 1976 to Dawkins' book, The Selfish Gene.”
Discussed
“in 1976 to Dawkins' book, The Selfish Gene.”
Douglas Kenrick like Dawkins talked about in the selfish Gene it isn't like that our genes actually make decisions 2
Discussed
“like Dawkins talked about in the selfish Gene it isn't like that our genes actually make decisions”
Discussed
“in fact I was just Rel listening to the book The Selfish Gene and one of the things and uh Dawkins had a 25th Anniversary Edition in which he defended himself”
Garry Nolan and so the dna if you ask where does dna come from and you can go all the way back to richard dawkins and u… 2
Discussed
“and so the dna if you ask where does dna come from and you can go all the way back to richard dawkins and uh the selfish gene hypotheses”
Discussed
“And so, the DNA—if you ask where does DNA come from, and you can go all the way back to Richard Dawkins and the selfish gene hypothesis— The way I look at DNA, though, is it is not a moment in time; it assumes the context of the body and the environment in which it's going to live.”
Graham Hancock richard richard dawkins is the author of the book called the selfish gene and he's not one of my favorite p… 2
Critiqued
“richard richard dawkins is the author of the book called the selfish gene and he's not one of my favorite people because he's a he's a materialist reductionist”
Discussed
“I deploy a concept in this book that I actually got from richard dawkins richard richard dawkins is the author of the book called the selfish gene”
Lex Fridman and yeah because it's it's so clearly it's like the selfish gene with darkest 2
Discussed
“and yeah because it's it's so clearly it's like the selfish gene with darkest”
Discussed
“so correct me if I'm wrong but in your book selfish Gene the the gene centered view of evolution of allows us to think of the physical organisms as just the medium through which the software of our genetics and the ideas sort of propagate”
Matt Ridley new book published by one of the professors that was about to teach me it turned out his name was richard d… 2
Discussed
“new book published by one of the professors that was about to teach me it turned out his name was richard dawkins the book was called the selfish gene and that sent those hairs up on the back of my neck reading it”
Discussed
“I had a very Vivid experience first term at University new book published by one of the professors that was about to teach me it turned out his name was Richard Dawkins The book was called The Selfish Gene”
Michael Shermer so this is Dawkins argument in The Selfish Gene that that the gene is the is this is the thing we should be… 2
Discussed
“so this is Dawkins argument in The Selfish Gene that that the gene is the is this is the thing we should be focused on not the body”
Discussed
“science doesn't tell me to uh to uh do anything against my self-interest the selfish Gene written by an atheist that we we are we're composed of selfish genes”
Richard Prum we think that genes are selfish and that explains everything 2
Discussed
“The math has supported that for a very long time, but evolutionary biologists are still resistant to it, mostly because many of them grew up reading Richard Dawkins as a teenager, and they feel like their mission in their intellectual life is to rediscover that buzz, and this is the way to do it in birds. So Richard Dawkins is”
Critiqued
“we think that genes are selfish and that explains everything”
Tyler Cowen but things like the right Queen selfish Gene right in many different Freakonomics and everyone had to read… 2
Discussed
“tell us why you reject Richard Dawkins his vision of The Selfish Gene as his book was titled”
Discussed
“but things like the right Queen selfish Gene right in many different Freakonomics and everyone had to read all those books to be intellectually illiterate”
Ben Bowlin the the word meme comes from a guy named Richard Dawkins famous somewhat problematic geneticist uh he wrote… 1
Discussed
“the the word meme comes from a guy named Richard Dawkins famous somewhat problematic geneticist uh he wrote this book in 1976 called The Selfish Gene and he took the word meme from the root of memo memory mimic”
Bryan Callen I think I know that um there's a book I read called The Selfish Gene um I know that that a scientist um I c… 1
Discussed
“I think I know that um there's a book I read called The Selfish Gene um I know that that a scientist um I can't remember who wrote it”
Charlie Songhurst Then there's actually a chapter in Dawkins, a sort of selfish gene on hawks and doves and evolutionally sta… 1
Discussed
“Then there's actually a chapter in Dawkins, a sort of selfish gene on hawks and doves and evolutionally stable populations of different behavioral strategies. And maybe that also replicates in investors.”
Chris Williamson you've read the selfish Gene you're looking at Humanity 1
Discussed
“you've read the selfish Gene you're looking at Humanity”
Dr. Dacher Keltner um the you know in 1978 I think Richard Dawkins published selfish Gene massive book 1
Discussed
“um the you know in 1978 I think Richard Dawkins published selfish Gene massive book”
Dwarkesh Patel then it's very trivial but uh it ain't trivial for theoretical biologists as far as I can tell but the resu… 1
Discussed
“then it's very trivial but uh it ain't trivial for theoretical biologists as far as I can tell but the result is so interesting because I remember reading in the selfish gene that like he hypothesizes um the reason we have aging”
Jason Silva he became a meme which you know in Richard Dawkins book The Selfish Gene he says that there was this new re… 1
Discussed
“he became a meme which you know in Richard Dawkins book The Selfish Gene he says that there was this new replicator”
Joe Rogan internet meme Dawkins concept 1972 right internet 19 that was that book that he had right the selfish gene… 1
Discussed
“internet meme Dawkins concept 1972 right internet 19 that was that book that he had right the selfish gene it's what was it in that that dancing baby was coming up”
Joseph LeDoux obviously you know with Richard Dawkins said the theory The Selfish Gene 1
Discussed
“obviously you know with Richard Dawkins said the theory The Selfish Gene”
Quinn Slobodian So the term "viruses of the mind" was coined by Richard Dawkins in the early 1990s, well-respected if his s… 1
Discussed
“So the term "viruses of the mind" was coined by Richard Dawkins in the early 1990s, well-respected if his sort of incendiary conservative evolutionary biologist, and not coincidentally, the same guy who coined the term "meme" in his book, The Selfish Gene, from 1976.”
The Ezra Klein Show Elon Musk’s Endgame 2026-10-30
Richard Dawkins In the concluding chapter of the first edition of The Selfish Gene, I cast around for another example of a… 1
Discussed
“In the concluding chapter of the first edition of The Selfish Gene, I cast around for another example of a replicator. I wasn't then aware of computer viruses; otherwise, I might have chosen the computer virus as my analogy.”
Rikki Schlott We kind of refer to Richard Dawkins' idea of a meme because cancel culture is very effective. 1
Discussed
“We kind of refer to Richard Dawkins' idea of a meme because cancel culture is very effective.”
Rupert Sheldrake this is the basis of Richard Dawkins work for example his book The Selfish Gene is based on that model 1
Discussed
“this is the basis of Richard Dawkins work for example his book The Selfish Gene is based on that model”
Russell Brand and that's I think shows you that we're not as in a Darwinistic model or some of the ideas derived from Dar… 1
Discussed
“and that's I think shows you that we're not as in a Darwinistic model or some of the ideas derived from Darwinism rather like The Selfish Gene and the Richard Dawkins idea that people just want to survive and we just want to kill them [ __ ] and you know and this is what propels us forward”
Mentioned on the show without a named speaker2
Discussed
“He wrote this book in 1976 called 'The Selfish Gene,' and he took the word meme from the root of memo, mimic! And Wartman has this great quote summing it up, which I don't know, like we’re going straight to our pal Wartman here because he sums it up the best, I think! The quote is basically a meme is”
Discussed
“At its center is this idea of memes: a simple definition is a funny image that spreads virally, and the deeper definition was originally by Richard Dawkins, who introduced the idea of memes as concepts that spread in society in a way akin to genes.”

Often mentioned with

Other mentions (10: passing, ad reads, own books)
Passing
“Then there's actually a chapter in Dawkins' sort of selfish gene on hawks and doves and the evolutionary stable populations of different behavioral strategies.”
Plugged
“so everything about a body can be regarded as I called it in in the selfish Gene I called it a survival machine”
Plugged
“Everything about a body can be regarded as, in my terminology from 'The Selfish Gene', a survival machine.”
Passing
“Richard Dawkins is both a distinguished scholar of zoology and evolutionary biology and a remarkably successful popularizer of scientific ideas through his bestselling books, including The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion.”
Passing
“In 2017, the Royal Society, the United Kingdom's Academy of Sciences, conducted a public poll asking readers to name the most influential science book of all time. The winner was The Selfish Gene.”
Passing
“he's the author of The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion as well as many other influential books”
Passing
“he's the author of The Selfish genan and The God Delusion as well as many other influential books”
Passing
“You can even turn things upside down a little bit in the same spirit that Dawkins did with selfish genes. They talked about genes having a kind of agency and reproducing, sometimes even at the expense of the larger organism.”
Passing
“the following is a conversation with Richard Dawkins an evolutionary biologist and author of The Selfish Gene the blind watchmaker The God Delusion the magic of reality and the greatest show of Earth and his latest Al growing God”
Passing
“what I've got The Selfish Gene Richard Dawkins any chance I could bring this militant atheism”

Portraits from Wikimedia Commons: Steven Pinker, Christopher Michel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); Michael Shermer, David Patton / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0); Lex Fridman, lexfridman / Wikimedia Commons (CC0); Jordan Peterson, Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0); Neil deGrasse Tyson, Norwegian University of Science and Technology / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0); Steve Levitt, Stephen Foskett / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0); Bret Weinstein, TEDx Talks / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0); Gad Saad, Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).