Matt Ridley quotes - page 2

So sex equals genetic mixing. (Matt Ridley)
Determinism looks backwards to the causes of the present state, not forward to the consequences. View quote
Matt Ridley
The main purpose of most genes in the human genome is regulating the expression of other genes in the genome. View quote
Matt Ridley
Nobody doubts that genes can shape anatomy. The idea that they also shape behaviour takes a lot more swallowing. View quote
Matt Ridley
Life is a slippery thing to define, but it consists of two very different skills: the ability to replicate, and the ability to create order. View quote
Matt Ridley
Freedom lies in expressing your own determinism, not somebody else's. It is not the determinism that makes a difference, but the ownership. If freedom is what we prefer, then it is preferable to be determined by forces that originate in ourselves and not in others. View quote
Matt Ridley
Evolution does not lead to Utopia. It leads to a land in which what is best for a man may be worst for another man, or what is best for a woman may be worst for a man. View quote
Matt Ridley
One of the peculiar features of history is that time always erodes advantage. Every invention sooner or later erodes advantage. Every invention sooner or later leads to a counter-invention. View quote
Matt Ridley
Females choose; their choosiness is inherited; they prefer exaggerated ornaments; exaggerated ornaments are a burden to males. View quote
Matt Ridley
Reproducing sexually must improve an individual´s reproductive success or else sex would not persist... It is increasingly hard to understand how human beings came to be so clever without considering sexual competition. View quote
Matt Ridley
The idea that we were designed by our past was the principal insight of Charles Darwin. He was the first to realize that you can abandon divine creation of species without abandoning the argument from design. (Matt Ridley)
It is no harder to explain than a game of cards. There are aces and kings and twos and threes in any deck of cards. A lucky player is dealt a high-scoring hand, but none of his cards is unique. Elsewhere in the room are others with the same kinds of cards in their hands. But even with just thirteen kinds of cards, every hand is different and some are spectacularly better than others. Sex is merely the dealer, generating unique hands from the same monotonous deck of genetic cards shared by the whole species. View quote
Matt Ridley
Everything can be inherited except sterility. View quote
Matt Ridley
Therefore, broadly speaking, males invest less and seek quantity of mates, while females invest more and seek quality of mates. View quote
Matt Ridley
This interaction of genetic and external influences makes my behaviour unpredictable, but not undetermined. View quote
Matt Ridley
Yet the myth persists that genetic determinism is a more implacable kind of fate than social determinism. View quote
Matt Ridley
The politicisation of the issue has had absurd results. View quote
Matt Ridley
Just as we underestimate the degree to which human brains rely upon instincts, so we have generally underestimated the degree to which other animals are capable of learning. View quote
Matt Ridley
The subject of learning lies in the provinces of neuroscience and psychology. It is the opposite of instinct. Instinct is generically-determined behaviour; learning is behaviour modified by experience. View quote
Matt Ridley
Natural selection has designed all parts of our bodies to last just long enough to see our children into independence, no more. View quote
Matt Ridley
These two processes-linguistic philology and genetic phylogeny-are converging upon a common theme: the history of human migrations. (Matt Ridley)
It underscores yet again the fact that what we call personality is to a considerable degree a question of brain chemistry. View quote
Matt Ridley
Judges were never very good at science. View quote
Matt Ridley
Genes do indeed behave as if they have selfish goals, not consciously, but retrospectively: genes that behave in this way thrive and genes that don't don't. View quote
Matt Ridley
If you still thought evolution was about the good of the species, stop thinking so right now. View quote
Matt Ridley