This is interesting in as much as it shows how such thinking has changed over the years, but her real purpose seems to be to create doubt in the reader's mind about whether selection at the level of the gene is the only mechanism of evolution, which is what Mr Dawkins and his fellow selfish-geners believe.

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But the whole market mechanism and its evolution is something that, I'm kind of of the Buffett School.

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Evolution is a mechanism, and it works within rules.

ECONOMIST: Evolution

The gregarious are therefore at greater risk than the lonely of catching viruses, and Dr Cole thus suggests that past evolution has created a mechanism (the details of which remain unclear) which causes white cells to respond appropriately.

ECONOMIST: The reason loneliness could be bad for your health