--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our minds have been built by selfish…" description: "\"Our minds have been built by selfish genes, but they have been built to be social, trustworthy and cooperative.\" — Matt Ridley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aed/matt-ridley-8082_built_our-minds-have-been-built-by-selfish-gen_2586011.png" --- # Our minds have been built by selfish genes, but they have… ![“Our minds have been built by selfish genes, but they have been built to be social, trustworthy and cooperative.” quote by Matt Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aed/matt-ridley-8082_built_our-minds-have-been-built-by-selfish-gen_2586011.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aed/matt-ridley-8082_built_our-minds-have-been-built-by-selfish-gen_2586011.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aed/matt-ridley-8082_built_our-minds-have-been-built-by-selfish-gen_2586011.png) > “Our minds have been built by selfish genes, but they have been built to be social, trustworthy and cooperative.” [Matt Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ridley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature is shaped by selfish genes yet designed for social cooperation and trust. **In simple terms:** Genes are selfish but humans are social. Key Takeaway Foster cooperation despite self‑interest. Themes biology psychology society Mood analytical thoughtful Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - team building - community projects - trust exercises - conflict resolution Key Concepts evolutionary theory social behavior Questions to Reflect On - How does self‑interest coexist with trust? - What structures promote cooperation? A Different Perspective Selfish gene theory can oversimplify complexity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built/) [Built Selfish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built-selfish-1819262/) [Cooperatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cooperatives/) [Evolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolution/) [Genes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genes/) [Genes Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genes-built-1819263/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Minds Built](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minds-built-1300684/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Selfish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish/) [Selfish gene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish-gene/) [Selfish Genes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish-genes-388027/) [Selfishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishness/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social Trustworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-trustworthy-1819264/) [Trustworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trustworthy/) ## Related quotes > [What you cannot have is a gene that sacrifices itself for the benefit of other genes. What you can have is a gene that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/what-you-cannot-have-is-a-gene-that-sacrifices-itself-for-the-benefit/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish. Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-try-to-teach-generosity-and-altruism-because-we-are-born-2/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Just as blueprints don't necessarily specify blue buildings, selfish genes don't necessarily specify selfish organisms. 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We can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-the-power-to-defy-the-selfish-genes-of-our-birth-and-if/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Glory, built on selfish principles, is shame and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cowper/glory-built-on-selfish-principles-is-shame-and-guilt/) [William Cowper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cowper/) > [It's in our genes, we were built to wander.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-fisher/it-s-in-our-genes-we-were-built-to-wander/) [Helen Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-fisher/) > [“Ebenezer was unsure that human minds were built to cope with any of . . . of what happened down there. He felt no shame thinking that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-cutter/ebenezer-was-unsure-that-human-minds-were-built-to-cope-with-any-of/) [Nick Cutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-cutter/) > [Children always understand. They have open minds. They have built-in shit detectors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna/children-always-understand-they-have-open-minds-they-have-built-in/) [Madonna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna/) > [The problem with the emotions is not that they are untamed forces or vestiges of our animal past; it is that they were designed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/the-problem-with-the-emotions-is-not-that-they-are-untamed-forces-or/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“We have the power to defy the selfish genes of our birth and, if necessary, the selfish memes of our indoctrination. . . .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-the-power-to-defy-the-selfish-genes-of-our-birth-and-if-3/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Selfish genes actually explain altruistic individuals, and to me that's crystal-clear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/selfish-genes-actually-explain-altruistic-individuals-and-to-me-that/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“We have the power to defy the selfish genes of our birth and, if necessary, the selfish memes of our indoctrination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/we-have-the-power-to-defy-the-selfish-genes-of-our-birth-and-if-2/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“even with selfish genes at the helm, nice guys can finish first.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/even-with-selfish-genes-at-the-helm-nice-guys-can-finish-first/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Let us understand what our own selfish genes are up to because we may then at least have the chance to upset their designs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/let-us-understand-what-our-own-selfish-genes-are-up-to-because-we-may/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [ “A foreign publisher of my first book \[ The Selfish Gene \] confessed that he could not sleep for three nights after reading it,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/a-foreign-publisher-of-my-first-book-the-selfish-gene-confessed-that/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) ## More by Matt Ridley > [I felt cheated by the way grown-ups told me that the future of the world was bleak when I became a teenager in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-ridley/i-felt-cheated-by-the-way-grown-ups-told-me-that-the-future-of-the/) [Matt Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ridley/) > [“If you attend a meeting of evolutionary biologists somewhere in America, you might be lucky and spot a tall, gray-whiskered, smiling man bearing a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-ridley/if-you-attend-a-meeting-of-evolutionary-biologists-somewhere-in/) [Matt Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ridley/) > [“Merchants and craftsmen make prosperity; chiefs, priests and thieves fritter it away.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-ridley/merchants-and-craftsmen-make-prosperity-chiefs-priests-and-thieves/) [Matt Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ridley/) > [At some point, human intelligence became collective and cumulative in a way that happened to no other animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-ridley/at-some-point-human-intelligence-became-collective-and-cumulative-in/) [Matt Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ridley/) > [We consciously decide whether to consider people; we fall in love despite ourselves; we entirely fail to fall in love with people who fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-ridley/we-consciously-decide-whether-to-consider-people-we-fall-in-love/) [Matt Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-ridley/) > [It's terrifying the way molecular biology has become more and more jargon ridden. 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