Monday, September 15, 2008  The battle of the sexes  Ever since
Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene we have known that a goodly
part of what we are is the result of little snippets of DNA
trying to have their own way. We have 20,000 or so genes and
everyone of them is out for itself. My genes are in competition
with your genes. You may think I'm a nice guy, but my genes are
self-serving and vainglorious. I might invite you onto the porch
for a drink, but my genes would kick your genes over the railing
into the shrubbery.  The idea of the selfish gene was not
original with Dawkins, but he gave it popular currency. He did
not mean genes are willfully "selfish" in the human meaning of
the word, only that the genes that get passed on to the next
generation are the ones that serve their own replication. Our
physical selves, and a good part of our behaviors, are a result
of genes jostling their way to the front of the queue. Start
with a blob of protoplasm, add genetically-determined
reproduction, variation and natur