The Selfish Gene is Alive and Well

I can’t stop noticing this.

It’s like a stone in my shoe.

Quietly. Daily. I’m gathering more and more evidence. And I can’t ignore it any longer:

People don’t care about anyone else.

They do what's best for themselves. Always. When push comes to shove (actually, they don't even need a shove), selfishness is their default position.

Look out for No.1. That's the main goal in life. I wish it wasn't like this.

But the evidence is all around us.

The Daily Evidence

I live in London. Every day seems to deliver fresh proof.

On Tuesday, I watched a cyclist fly through a red light at a packed junction. No hesitation. No scan of the crossing. Headphones in, eyes forward, completely absorbed in his own momentum. Cars beeped, pedestrians flinched, but he just kept moving.

That night, I met with someone I've known for years. A close friend. We hadn't spoken properly in a while, so I tried to say something important that’s been on my mind. Mid-sentence, I caught their gaze drifting down to their phone. A little swipe. A scroll. A quick glance at nothing.

And that was enough to break the moment.

These aren't huge events. No one died. Nothing burned down. But that's exactly what makes them powerful. These are the little choices people make every day to disengage, to disconnect, to protect their bubble at all costs.

The Larger Indifference

Politics? A masterclass in self-interest. Decisions made to win headlines, not help people. Long-term thinking is a liability. Better to do something flashy now than plant trees someone else will sit under later.

You watch politics for long enough and the message becomes clear: if you're not getting credit now, what's the point?

The systems aren't broken. They're working exactly as designed. They reward short-term wins, personal image, and self-preservation.

So Where Does That Leave Us?

Despite all this evidence, here at Do Radio, we’re building a talk radio station.

It sounds mad even writing that. A radio station. In 2025. When everyone already has more content than they can ever consume. When attention is currency and most of it is hoarded by whoever yells loudest.

But this isn't about volume. It's about connection.

The kind of connection that doesn't trend. That doesn't perform well in algorithms. The kind that makes someone feel just a little more human, a little less alone.

That's what we want to build with Do Radio. That's what this is for.

And I keep circling back to one thing: if I stop now, if I let the selfishness I see every day convince me it's pointless, then I become part of the problem. Another person who gave up.

I can't do that.

So we're building the station anyway.

The Quieter Truth

Because here's the other truth I keep noticing. It's quieter and easier to miss, but it's still there. I'm talking about the neighbour who brings you soup when you're sick. The stranger who helps someone pick up their shopping on the pavement. The friend who remembers something you said months ago and sends you a book about it.

Tiny things. Moments that don't announce themselves. But they add up.

They remind me that selfishness might be everywhere, but it isn't everything.

The Question That Won't Go Away

So here's what we're doing. We're building Do Radio slowly, maybe naively, but with full intention.

Not because we think it'll go viral. Not because we think it will fix the world. But because we want to find the people who still care. The ones who want to connect. Who are looking for something quieter, slower, and more human.

The ones who might be feeling the same thing I am: the creeping suspicion that we're losing something essential and the stubborn hope that it's not too late to get it back.

That's what I'm chasing.

I don't have the answer yet. I'm not even sure I know what I'm doing most days. But I do have the question that keeps me going: if they're still out there, the ones who care, how do we find them?

And maybe, just maybe, if we build something genuine enough, something honest enough, they'll find us instead.