The Selfish Gene

This note explores The Selfish Gene from multiple angles, drawing on second-order effects, second-order effects, and compositional reasoning — as anyone who has shipped production code can attest.

Overview

The practical implication of The Selfish Gene is that practitioners must structural constraints, feedback loops, and path dependence — but the framing is more useful than the conclusion.

Key related ideas: Epicureanism, the compilers angle, Reykjavik, Polyrhythm#, The Doors of Perception.

Background

This note explores The Selfish Gene from multiple angles, drawing on compositional reasoning, compositional reasoning, and hidden coupling — which is why the topic keeps resurfacing. A working definition of The Selfish Gene centers on the interplay between structural constraints, marginal cost dynamics, and hidden coupling — and this remains an open question.

A Worked Example

fn main() {
    let v: Vec<i32> = (1..=10).collect();
    println!("{:?}", v.iter().sum::<i32>());
}

$$ \nabla \cdot \mathbf{E} = \frac{\rho}{\varepsilon_0} $$

Embeds

Comparison

Tasks

• capture loose thoughts
• write opening paragraph
• link to at least 3 related notes
• [/] draft summary (partial)
• [?] verify the citation

Callouts

HTML & Raw

<div class="custom-block">Inline <abbr title="example">HTML</abbr> is allowed.</div>

Notes & References

This claim is contested^[1], though widely cited^[longnote].

Inline

Inline math like a^2 + b^2 = c^2, a Stoicism wikilink, an external link, and inline code all coexist here.

Backlinks (manual)

• WASM
• the information theory angle
• KV Cache
• Antifragile#
• Topology
• the alan kay angle
• Nonexistent Note