In evolutionary biology, genetic anthropomorphism refers to "thinking like a gene". The central question is "if I were a gene, what would I do in order to reproduce myself". The question is an obvious fallacy; genes are incapable of thought. However, natural selection does act in a such a way that those that are most successful at reproducing themselves (by following the optimum strategy) prosper. Thinking like a gene enables the results to be visualised. This is related to a philosophical tool known as the intentional stance.
The most notable genetic anthropomorphist was the British biologist W.D. Hamilton. Hamilton's friend Richard Dawkins popularised the idea.
It is important to think like a gene rather than an organism.
Anthropomorphism has been criticised on a number of grounds, including that it is reductionist.
Famous quotes containing the word genetic:
“We cannot think of a legitimate argument why ... whites and blacks need be affected by the knowledge that an aggregate difference in measured intelligence is genetic instead of environmental.... Given a chance, each clan ... will encounter the world with confidence in its own worth and, most importantly, will be unconcerned about comparing its accomplishments line-by-line with those of any other clan. This is wise ethnocentricism.”
—Richard Herrnstein (1930–1994)