Genes are not only selfish - they are sacred, as they are immune to most of the bumps and bruises of the flesh. This has profound evolutionary logic: if the genetic operating system were as vulnerable to wear and tear as the processes it controls, both would soon be out of business.
This can also be seen in the human social order, where ideas are like living processes and the rules for their implementation the gene. Again, our genes are largely beyond the influence of daily events. This is why ethics are so slow to change over the centuries. Technology remakes the world, yet we struggle with what are essentially Aristotle's precepts to judge its value. Where does the golden mean land us when we have the power to leave this planet and create intelligent machines? We cling to the guideline of moderation, but what's a moderate amount of nearly infinite information?
