The Meme MachineHumans are extraordinary creatures, with the unique ability among animals to imitate and so copy from one another ideas, habits, skills, behaviours, inventions, songs, and stories. These are all memes, a term first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Memes, like genes, are replicators, and this enthralling book is an investigation of whether this link between genes and memes can lead to important discoveries about the nature of the inner self. Confronting the deepest questions about our inner selves, with all our emotions, memories, beliefs, and decisions, Susan Blackmore makes a compelling case for the theory that the inner self is merely an illusion created by the memes for the sake of replication. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 10 | |
3 The evolution of culture | 24 |
4 Taking the memes eye view | 37 |
5 Three problems with memes | 53 |
6 The big brain | 67 |
7 The origins of language | 82 |
8 Memegene coevolution | 93 |
12 A memetic theory of altruism | 147 |
13 The altruism trick | 162 |
14 Memes of the New Age | 175 |
15 Religions as memeplexes | 187 |
16 Into the Internet | 204 |
17 The ultimate memeplex | 219 |
18 Out of the meme race | 235 |
| 247 | |
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Common terms and phrases
altruism trick analogy animals argue Baldwin effect believe benefit better biological coevolution complex consciousness copied created creatures Darwin Darwinian Dawkins defined definition Dennett difficult effect environment evolutionary algorithm evolutionary psychology evolved example experience explain fecundity fidelity find first fitness genes hominids horizontal transmission human brain idea imagine increase influenced inside instructions invention kin selection kind language learning live look mate Matt Ridley meme pool meme’s memeplexes memes and genes memetic driving memetic evolution memetic selection mind modern natural selection neurons obvious passed people’s person phenotype predictions primeval soup produce psychologist question reciprocal altruism religions scientific second replicator selection pressure selfish selfplex sense simple sleep paralysis social society sociobiology someone sounds species specific spreading memes story successful memes suggest survival Susan Blackmore talk theory things understand women words