The Selfish Gene
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkinsby Richard Dawkins
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 2 of 47 popular science books by recommenders
Recommended for teaching how evolution works from the gene's view and building evolutionary thinking. Critics say its story is detached from how systems survive change.
13 people recommended The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from 20 comments.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- mixed feelings
- 1
- warn against or regret it
- 5
The record
Recommended in 8 of 12 months
In 12 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 12 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 23% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 20 of the 22 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Explains how evolution works
“He argues/explains how evolutionary forces become dominant, with much more focus on the why.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “All the Way Down” “The Selfish Gene" finally made me understand how evolution actually works.”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Richard Dawkins and the Claude Delusion” “his argumentation teaches a lot about "evolutionary thinking”
Comment from 3 Oct 2026 in “Loss of cell identity drives human aging: Two new papers” - Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Richard Dawkins and the Claude Delusion”
Influential, favourite book
“The Selfish Gene' is one of my favourite books because of the concepts within”
Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “I can't stop thinking about Papua New Guinea” “The selfish gene" is one of the most influential books I read.”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Richard Dawkins and the Claude Delusion” “When all is said and done, this book must be the one.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models” Clear, informative popular science
“I have found his popular books like The Selfish Gene and The Ancestor's Tale very informative.”
Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “My falling-out with the rationalist community” “Worth reading something like the Selfish Gene if you want to understand it a bit better.”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Scientists are working on "everything vaccines"” “his (terrific) book, The Selfish Gene”
Comment from 7 Jan 2026 in “Ralph Wiggum went from 'The Simpsons' to the biggest name in AI” Gene-centred view of competition
“puts forward a strong argument for how the actual competitive battlefield on Earth is between genes”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Humanity isn't ready for the coming intelligence explosion” “There is no self. We are but pre-programmed propagation vectors.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Model may be overstated
“needs to be taken with a suitable grain of salt”
Comment from 16 Jun 2026 in “Humanity isn't ready for the coming intelligence explosion” “It’s just a nice looking model author made up.”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What's a book that fundamentally altered your mental models”
Other popular science books people recommend
The four most recommended other popular science books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gödel, Escher, Bachby Douglas Hofstadter | 37 | 9 | 10 | 79% | 9 | — | Approved |
| The Selfish Geneby Richard DawkinsThis page | 13 | 1 | 5 | 72% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Thinking, Fast and Slowby Daniel Kahneman | 13 | 2 | 13 | 50% | 7 | — | — |
| Thinking in Systemsby Donella Meadows | 13 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| A City on Marsby Kelly and Zach Weinersmith | 10 | 0 | 3 | 77% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
20 of the 22 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“his argumentation teaches a lot about "evolutionary thinking”
“The Selfish Gene' is one of my favourite books because of the concepts within”
“They should remove "The Selfish Gen" from training catalog.”
“I have found his popular books like The Selfish Gene and The Ancestor's Tale very informative.”
“needs to be taken with a suitable grain of salt”
“puts forward a strong argument for how the actual competitive battlefield on Earth is between genes”
“that satisfied me that the "irreducible complexity" argument doesn't hold up”
“The Selfish Gene is in that category.”
“the book is still excellent at teaching "thinking evolution”
“The Selfish Gene" finally made me understand how evolution actually works.”
“The selfish gene" is one of the most influential books I read.”
“Amazing books: to me they indicate he was very very smart.”
“Selfish Gene story is detached from how systems survive environmental change and unpredictability.”
“Worth reading something like the Selfish Gene if you want to understand it a bit better.”
“his (terrific) book, The Selfish Gene”
“far exceeded my expectations”
“It’s just a nice looking model author made up.”
“When all is said and done, this book must be the one.”
“There is no self. We are but pre-programmed propagation vectors.”
“He argues/explains how evolutionary forces become dominant, with much more focus on the why.”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.