- Chapter 11, The Selfish Gene
- Who is Susan Blackmore?
Chapter 11, The Selfish Gene
1. Give the definition of a ‘meme’
A meme is a unit of cultural transmission, a unit of imitation: a painting, a tune, poem, an idea, an invention, a concept that is copied or imitated by the brain and transmitted to other brains. It is analogous to a gene. It was coined by biologist Richard Dawkins and comes from the word ‘mimeme’ that has Greek origin.
2. Give some examples of memes but focus on the ideas associated with religion
The God meme has great psychological appeal. It provides answers to troubling questions about life and death.
3. What is a Saddleback and what has it got to do with memes?
The saddleback is an endemic New Zealand bird. It is exceptional because unlike most birds it is born without an instinctive knowledge of its song. It must learn it from other saddlebacks through imitation. Notably, they will only copy the song of its own species.
The example is revealing as the song of the saddleback is analogous to human culture and the bird to us. That is, we absorb the elements of culture that are ‘most human,’ in other words, that which is most psychologically appealing to us. What has psychological appeal is a meme.
4. What do memes and genes have in common? Answer this using the following terms from the text: longevity, fecundity and copying fidelity.
For genes, longevity is not as important as fecundity. It is necessary for a gene to last as long as the body that carries it exists, so that it can be passed on. Fecundity, or its ability to copy itself, is more important.
Genes copy themselves very well, that is there is a high level of copying fidelity, but occasionally there are errors or mutations. Memes replicate through willful or involuntary imitation. For example a catchy tune is not willfully memorized, it sticks in the brain due to its psychological appeal. Other memes are copied through study and work owing to their appeal of having some survival value. Exact copies of memes are not achieved all the time. Memes also blend with other memes. For example, Christianity was blended with pagan beliefs to heighten its appeal.
5. Explain the analogy between the human brain and computers.
There is competition for memory space. The human brain has a limited capacity. If a meme is to dominate it must compete with other memes. The ideas in your English course are competing against the ideas in your telecommunication classes. Advertising tricks your brain into paying attention to the commercial message. Computer viruses steal computer space.
6. What is a co-adapted meme-complex?
Before we answer that question you need to know what a co-adapted gene-complex is. Mimicry in butterflies is caused by a large number of genes working together. They work so well together that they might as well be considered the same gene. Carnivores require sharp teeth, forward facing eyes, appropriate digestive systems to deal with meat and so on. All these characteristics work together and are largely inseparable, so much so it is difficult to know which one came first.
A co-adapted meme-complex is analogous to the co-adapted gene complex. That is, one meme assists the survival of other memes, just as the gene for sharp teeth is supported by an appropriate digestive system etc. The God meme is a good example.
The church, its architecture, rituals, laws, art, writings and so on all support one another other and all work to promote and to protect the central God meme. Dawkins gives the examples of hell, blind faith and celibacy as other supports to this meme complex.
7. How can we achieve immortality through memes?
Basically, if you develop a great idea, or work of art that has enduring psychological appeal, your idea and your name will be disseminated and remembered. In this way you will live on in the brains of people long after your death, just as Shakespeare, Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Bach, Mozart do, and they will go living until humanity ceases to exist.
This is where Dawkins’ idea, or at least this aspect of it, is not very original. In fact, it appears in The Symposium by Plato (427 -347 BC). It occurs in a discussion between Socrates and Diotima; a woman who taught him the ways of love. Read the extract for yourself.
"Who, when he thinks of Homer and Hesiod and other great poets, would not rather have their children than ordinary human ones? Who would not emulate them in the creation of children such as theirs, which have preserved their memory and given them everlasting glory? Or who would not have such children as Lycurgus left behind him to be the saviors, not only of Lacedaemon, but of Hellas, as one may say? There is Solon, too, who is the revered father of Athenian laws; and many others there are in many other places, both among Hellenes and barbarians, who have given to the world many noble works, and have been the parents of virtue of every kind; and many temples have been raised in their honor for the sake of children such as theirs; which were never raised in honor of any one, for the sake of his mortal children."
2. Who is Susan Blackmore?
a) She realized that there was no supernatural. That each time she tried to prove its existence empirically the experiments failed to show anything at all.
She used to be a parapyschologist, and she thought that this was the best way to understand the mind. Going against the advice of her lecturers she studied paranormal phenomenon in ernest. After five years she was coming to believe that "there was nothing in it"; in other words that it may not exist. By this time she was Reader in Psychology at Bristol University and had become an expert in the outer-body-experience. She continued to work on the paranormal still trying to find empirical evidence for its existence for another 25 years. After so much work she became absolutely convinced that that paranormal did not exist, and decided to abandon it totally.
b) By this time she had discovered that what she was really interested in 'consciousness'. She has written three books on the subject including a textbook. In 2001 she abandoned her university position to become a freelance writer and broadcaster.
c) She got interested in memes while ill and immobilized in bed. She was able to read and think. She re-read Richard Dawkins' 'The Selfish Gene' and became convinced that the idea of memes as the second replicator was correct.
d) Blackmore tries to explain why humans have such big brains through 'memetic drive'. Good ideas, or memes, enhanced the survival of primitive humans. An individual that creates a solution to a survival problem will survive. Others will also but only if they can remember and imitate this solution. Imitation and memory requires certain brain capacity, and the larger the capacity available the more things that can be learned and hence the greatrer chances of survival. Blackmore (2000) argues that once creativity emerged there was an advantage in being able to learn and imitate good ideas; basically the bigger the brain the more survival ideas that could be remembered and the greater chance the individual had for survival.
This idea that memes led to big brain is humans relates to Blackmore's notion of Memetic Drive. Simple put, a successful meme could lead to genetic success (Blackmore, 1999). That is, if a meme comes about that enhances the survival of only those who can imitate it, then those that cannot will have reduced chances of survival. In this way there will be a concentration of genetically determined abilities driven by the appearence of the meme.
Daniel Dennett on his book Breaking the Spell - Relgion as a natural phenomenon
a) What is the core part of his definition of religion?
"Social systems whose participants vow beleif in a supernatural agent or agents whose approval is to be sought."
b) How did the emergence of language relate to the development of religion. Talk about the "orientation reaction".
The "orientation reaction" is the act of being started by something and trying to figure anexplanation. Dennett claims that we tend to make an agent of these things and in general we do this for everything we we don't understand.c) What is Dennett's explanation for the origin of religion. Listen to his account of the "the talking tree"
to come..
d) What was the role of writing in helping religion to develop?
References
Blackmore, S (1999) The Meme Machine. Oxford University Press.
Blackmore, S (2000) The Power of Memes. Scientific American, Vol 283 No 4, pp 52-61
No comments:
Post a Comment