Reasoned by analogy, we present the theory of memes. The modern theory of memetics (memes) is all
about explaining why we behave as we do.
Based on a cultural analog of the
biological gene, it has quite a large following among professional researchers –
mostly in the social sciences. Let’s look at it more closely. Warning: Be skeptical, knowing this is
currently a big time theory. Yet no evidence and no observations! For reason by analogy see http://used-ideas.blogspot.com/2012/07/rasoning-by-analogy.html
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The theory of
memetics, or theory of memes, dating from the recent 1989 book, The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins, proposes
the rapid increase of social structure is a consequence of a culture or system (memes)
of behaviors that may be considered to be passed from one individual to
another. They have been likened to
biological genes. In his 1998 book Consilience:
The Unity of Knowledge, which elaborates upon the fundamental role of memes
in unifying the natural and social sciences, E. O. Wilson notes Dawkins poses
three conditions for evolution to occur.
- Variation, or the introduction of new change to existing elements;
- Heredity or replication, or the capacity to create copies of elements;
- Differential "fitness", or the opportunity for one element to be more or less suited to the environment than another.
The upshot is that mankind exhibits
a cultural evolution modeled on genetic evolution, with the passing of cultural
traits onto or into others, though a process of replication. The meme is a way of
discussing “a piece of thought conveyed from one person to another.” Various authors have attributed to memes religion,
architecture, hunting, idealism, and more. In some cases, such as pack-hunting, the presence
of memes is similar to what otherwise might be called programs, algorithms, or more
precisely feedback-correcting algorithms. Even though memes are passed between
individuals, they are contained by or aspects of the culture itself. Quantification of the meme themselves has long
been the basic open problem of their existence.
Blackmore, Susan J. (1999), The meme machine, Oxford
[Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press (published 1999-04-08), p. 288, ISBN 0-19-850365-2 [trade paperback ISBN
0-9658817-8-4 (1999), ISBN 0-19-286212-X (2000)] on religion.
Just a portion of the many criticisms of memetics is
that it ignores established advances in other fields of cultural study, such as sociology, cultural
anthropology, cognitive psychology, and social psychology. That aside, memes are fundamentally unprovable
as no experiment or observations can be made to establish them, existentially or
operationally. However, note relativity was
long understood and accepted before any observations proving it was established
(orbit of Mercury). All the while it is
used to explain what has no clear explanation.
However, it is an important and modern container to explain our current
cultural state.
See Benitez Bribiesca, Luis
(January 2001), "Memetics: A dangerous idea" (PDF), Interciencia:
Revista de Ciencia y Technologia de América, Venezuela: Asociación
Interciencia, 26 (1): 29–31, ISSN 0378-1844, retrieved 2010-02-11.
The
critique is based on scientific principles but is somewhat polemic. It is widely accepted because it is man-centered; we originate it and we promote it. Moreover, it
distinguishes man from other animals – mostly. As well, it fits within our
scope of understanding. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogs to genes in that they self-replicate,
mutate, and respond to selective pressures. This theory has a remarkable
following among practitioners in biology, anthropology, psychology, and
philosophy. At best, it is a theory utilizing the logic of analogy. It applies the familiar to the unknown and
possibly unknowable. It conveys a model for understanding. For a while
memes may work, until they are discovered
to be a consequence of sheer system complexity. It happens because the society of man is a virtually
undefinable, unquantifiable complex system. Yet, not within the close confines
of mathematics, complexity is incredibly difficult to verify or identify as causation
within any system. Simpler explanations
are always preferred. Hence the meme. Practitioners of memes prefer belief over evidence, while claiming memes cause people to select
religion as supporting belief over evidence.
For a general review, please see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme
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