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being generous with selfish explanations

One really, really interesting point RD makes is that the purpose of selfish-gene theory is to provide an explanation for unselfish behavior.  He really does recognize such behavior, and that it has unselfish motivation.  But it's axiomatic for him that selfishness is at the bottom of things.  So he locates selfishness in the gene.  Of course this is a metaphor.  So I'm not sure what his real point is, except that something analogous to selfishness is going on.  But what could that be?  Isn't this magical thinking?

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