ROGER JUMPS IN ON MEMES
Hi Dan!
I have been a long proponent that the theory of memetic evolution ties in
exceptionally well with the MOQ's social evolution. Please let me take a
hand at answering your questions..... First, let me offer a cut and pasted
synopsis of the issue from my personal writings....
(cut'n'paste)
******************
Memetic Evolution
Society's great breakthrough in the past million years or so has been gaining
the ability to evolve [From the primitive proto-social patterns of animals].
In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins identified that genes are no longer the
only evolutionary mechanism. He identified a second fundamental unit of
evolution that had previously been ignored. This social unit of evolution,
which Dawkins called memes, emerged out of a special talent of advanced
primates.
Memes arise due to man's unique ability to imitate. This is an extremely
difficult process that we take for granted, but that is rare in other species
(though it is seen in a very limited form in some birds). Note that
imitating is quite different than learning. Most animals can learn by
observing others. They can learn what to fear or where to eat, but they
cannot learn behavior that is not innate. Humans on the other hand, are
what Susan Blackmore refers to in The Meme Machine as 'consummate imitative
generalists' that can copy behaviors that are completely alien. Indeed, what
seems to be innate in us is our ability to imitate.
Why is imitation so difficult? First, you must decide what to imitate --
what behavior has quality and what details of that behavior are important and
which are irrelevant. Next, you have to transform one point of view into
another -- from what I see her doing, to what I should do. This requires the
concept of the self and of others, with the ability to contrast these views.
In other words, imitation requires subject/object thinking. Finally, you
must be able to coordinate matching bodily actions. The primates that were
to become our ancestors were the first species to be able to accomplish these
three skills.
Memes are defined as any social pattern, behavior or thought that is
imitatable. Examples include songs, tools, techniques, strategies, beliefs,
ideas, religions, roles, principles, styles, morals, and virtually anything
else making up human society.
Like genes, and unlike animal societies, memes are subject to selection,
variation and duplication. Therefore, once we developed the ability to
imitate, memetic evolution became inevitable. The rapid evolution of man and
society over the last million years or so can be explained via the
positive-sum co-evolution of genes and memes. This combination of two self
reinforcing positive-sum feedback loops has resulted in an unprecedented,
explosive advancement in novel and complex patterns. Copiers became more
successful by copying other's successes and outliving and out reproducing
inept copiers. Successful memetic patterns were copied more than others.
Sounds were used to spread memes more efficiently. Vocal cords evolved to
improve the range of sounds. Language developed to better convey flexible
messages. Brains grew to better manipulate and retain memes. Memes for
writing and printing and broadcasting improved our ability to store and
disseminate increasingly complex memes. In fact, the social structure itself
is a meme. Societies could copy and latch onto successful patterns and
discard bad ones. New variations could be tested.
Memes allow social patterns to compete, to evolve and to become significantly
more dynamic than anything in the animal world.
**************
Now, let me address the issues that you raise:
DAN:
>From what I've
read there seems a tendency for memeticists to either assign the value
of memes to the brain in some as yet unidentified way or make the claim,
as you seem to be doing here, that memes exist entirely independent of
the brain but act upon us when we become aware of them.
ROG:
Memes are imitatable (duplicatable/replicatable) social/intellectual patterns
of interaction. The only answer to this question involves a major detour
into the heart of the MOQ, not memetic theory. Hopefully the above
clarification of memes helps you to understand the issue enough to see the
answer your question.
Please do not get confused by the selfish 'solipsistic meme' stuff. This is
dualistic, SOM-interpreted thinking. It is like saying "a cow is manure's
way of making more manure.", or "A living organism is a gene's way to make
more genes". or " I am influenced by my environment and since I am
fundamentally divided from my environment then I can't have free will" or
"How can mind influence matter?".
Memetic theory, as with most dualistic western intellectual patterns, can
offer great insights to the MOQ, but only if we filter out the SOM Platypi
and replace it with Values and patterns of values.
Roger
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