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Scientific American

November 1, 1995

1 min read

God's Utility Function

Humans have always wondered about the meaning of life. According to the author, life has no higher purpose than to perpetuate the survival ofDNA

By Richard Dawkins

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Richard Dawkins was Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. His nine books have earned him honorary doctorates in literature and science, and he is a Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Literature. His many prizes include the Cosmos International Prize, the Nakayama Prize for Human Science and the Shakespeare Prize for Distinguished Contributions to British Culture. In 2006 he created the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. New British school guidelines encourage students to play the roles of such figures as Galileo, Darwin and Dawkins while debating science and creationism. He serves on Scientific American's board of advisers.

More by Richard Dawkins
Scientific American Magazine Vol 273 Issue 5This article was originally published with the title “God's Utility Function” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 273 No. 5 (), p. 80
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1195-80
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