Dawkins Versus Socrates
‘We are survival machines-robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes.' -- Richard Dawkins
I paraphrase Socrates:
'Should I say I am now sitting here because my body is blindly programmed by its genes... [But this] should fail to mention the real causes, which are, that the Athenians decided it was best to condemn me, and therefore I have decided that it was best for me to sit here and that it is right for me to stay and undergo whatever penalty they order. For, by God, I fancy these genes of mine would have been in Megara or Boeotia long ago, carried thither by an opinion of what was best, if I did not think it was better and nobler to endure any penalty the city may inflict...'
I paraphrase Socrates:
'Should I say I am now sitting here because my body is blindly programmed by its genes... [But this] should fail to mention the real causes, which are, that the Athenians decided it was best to condemn me, and therefore I have decided that it was best for me to sit here and that it is right for me to stay and undergo whatever penalty they order. For, by God, I fancy these genes of mine would have been in Megara or Boeotia long ago, carried thither by an opinion of what was best, if I did not think it was better and nobler to endure any penalty the city may inflict...'
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