Behavior

Survival Machines-------- feed from organic molecules------organic molecules gone-----plants----sun food (photosynthesis)----animals----feed from plants-----humans----feed from animals.

“This sub-branching has given rise to the immense diversity of animals and plants which so impresses us today.” (pg.46) right from the beginning of times we have an urge to develop and become bigger and better every time. This chapter was about the behavior of the survival machines, the difference between what we desire and the current state of the things. Because of the difference of our present state and the desired state is that we are constantly developing. “It is built in such a way that the larger this discrepancy is, the harder the machine works.” (pg. 50) the discrepancy that it is talked about is between the present state of a being, or in this case, a machine, and the desired state. Personally, my discrepancy is very large. I constantly want to be much more that what I am. According to Selfish Gene, this makes me evolve, and thanks to this behavior is that the survival machines are always evolving. This was interesting, I never thought of humans as survival machines, but we actually are, the problem is that we have grown so much that survival is taken for granted. I think that the only fact that we have a desired state makes us be selfish. The difference is if we affect others in other to get to the desired state.

I think that it is impossible to live without affecting others as one is living, right? We need communication, we need socializing, interacting, “A survival machine may be said to have communicated with another one when it influences its behavior or the state of its nervous system.” (pg. 63) this is a very scientific way to say it, but it right. Every time someone talks to someone else, the behavior changes, there is a reaction, no matter how minimal the reaction can be, but there is one. If I see it that way, I would like to cause a positive reaction every time I communicate with someone. I think that if I am able to always change the behavior of someone else in a good way, then I could maybe change the world, in a 0.00000000000001%. It counts.