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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What shape does the author say water molecules in space make?

2. What process does the existence of Dawkins' imagined early molecules closely resemble?

3. How would the results differ if the goal were the success of the group?

4. What game, played by computers, does Dawkins use as an example of things that can happen automatically based on rules?

5. What does Dawkins say points to the idea that all living things come from the same types of early molecules?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to genes in sexual reproduction?

2. In war of attrition scenarios, what is the best bet for individual behavior, according to Dawkins' reports?

3. What examples does Dawkins give of humanity's valuation of its own species?

4. Describe the comparison that Dawkins makes regarding a gangster.

5. Explain how the Watt Governor uses mechanics to regulate itself.

6. What are the main actions living organisms do, as gene machines?

7. What does Dawkins have to say about the phrase "to ensure the survival of the species?"

8. Why doesn't Dawkins find it statistically remarkable that an early molecule would arise that would copy itself?

9. How does Dawkins view whether fidelity is important to evolution?

10. Explain why Dawkins speculates that cannibalism might make sense within his selfish gene theory.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss population controls in Dawkins' book.

1) Compare Dawkins' views on human population to his views on population in animal species. How are the two different?

2) How does Dawkins disagree with Wynne-Edwards over population controls in animal species?

3) How does population control contribute to individual and species survival?

Essay Topic 2

The opposite of selfishness is altruism, and Dawkins argues that many seemingly altruistic behaviors actually originate with the selfishness of genes. Discuss altruism in Dawkins' book.

1) What altruistic behaviors does Dawkins attribute to selfish genes? How convincing are his arguments?

2) What is "altruism"? Is there such a thing as true "altruism?"

3) How can altruism function for the good of the individual or for the good of the individual's genes?

Essay Topic 3

Dawkins attributes many attitudes and beliefs to things people want to be true. Discuss how what people want to believe affects people's perception of science in Dawkins' book.

1) Why does Dawkins say that people want to believe in group selection? What affect has this had on evolutionary thought?

2) Why does Dawkins say that people want to believe that parents' relationships with children are an exception to rules of evolution? Are Dawkins' concerns valid?

3) In what other ways do people's desire to believe certain things affect perceptions of the concepts in the book?

(see the answer keys)

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