THE SELFLESS GENE

The Selfless Gene  LIVING WITH GOD AND DARWIN,  by Charles Foster, is a very thought provoking book.  The blurb on the back of the cover says "Intelligent, provocative, and highly readable..... a reconciliation of what are popularly seen as two opposing worldviews."  I must agree with this, although the "highly readable" part I might beg to differ.  I have always, since childhood, had a tug of war in my head and heart concerning how to reconcile what I was learning in Sunday School with what I was learning in science classes the other 5 days of the week.  For those of us, like me, who have a deep interest in the natural world around us, and an innate curiosity with a leaning toward scientific process and inquisitiveness, The Selfless Gene provides a wealth of information that may help us integrate two different views, and perhaps somewhat resolve the inner conflict. 

 
The technical writing aspect of the book is very readable; "plain English", so to speak.  The wealth of information offered though, and the intense amount of research (with almost 40 pages of notes and bibliography) put into the author's discussions throughout the book made it a gargantuan project for me.  I frequently put it down  after reading only 4 or 5 pages to ponder and mentally chew on what Mr. Foster was offering up.  This made for rather slow going in getting through the book. It is a book that I feel I will refer back to and re-read to see what parts I have "missed".  I appreciated the fairly neutral position of the author. I have shied away over the years from some treatments of the subject of Darwin versus Creation due to the sometimes hysterical nature of each side.  It was refreshing to read a calm, academic discussion.  It provides the possibility of accepting aspects of both beliefs into a personal ideology that I can live with. The book will not be satisfying to those who are extremely diametrically opposed, but for those of us who see a world that includes both natural evolution/selection (a "wholly self-centered process") and God, it provides some promise of peace.

In his closing paragraphs Mr. Foster asks the reader to consider that "consistently, another force has been at work molding the shape of the biological world--the force of community, of altruism, of selflessness.  Sometimes this force might have been the tool of natural selection--there is no problem at all with that.  Sometimes it might have been a self-energizing force."  It is a book that I will read again, and recommend to anyone needing answers to the ongoing debate.