If I am a selfish gene, I want to hitch a ride with a chick. Why? Because as much as 8 / 10 of women who ever lived reproduced. Only about 4 / 10 men who ever lived reproduced (according to the article).
This argument is wrong.
The discrepancy you point out is offset by the fact that the men who did reproduce had more offspring each than the women who did reproduce. On average, males and females produce the exact same expected number of children, because each child has a father and a mother. This explains the near 50/50 ratio of males to females in many species: if females substantially outnumber males, a selfish gene would find it beneficial to twist the mother's physiology to make a male child more probable. So it balances out.
Needless to say, memes have absolutely nothing to do with the whole discussion.
This argument is wrong.
The discrepancy you point out is offset by the fact that the men who did reproduce had more offspring each than the women who did reproduce. On average, males and females produce the exact same expected number of children, because each child has a father and a mother. This explains the near 50/50 ratio of males to females in many species: if females substantially outnumber males, a selfish gene would find it beneficial to twist the mother's physiology to make a male child more probable. So it balances out.
Needless to say, memes have absolutely nothing to do with the whole discussion.