Aaron Lukaszewski Lindsey Stevenson Hutson Olsen

1. Perspectives on Memetics-Cultural Transmission as a Darwinian Selection Process- Aaron Lukaszewski Lindsey Stevenson Hutson Olsen

2. Dawkins Pioneered Memetics • Memes are analogous to genes • Genes: instructions for making proteins • Memes: instructions for carrying out behavior • 3 ingredients of natural selection (the “evolutionary algorithm”) • Variation • Inheritance • Selection

3. Dawkins, Continued • Memes seem to meet all three requirements • 3 attributes of a “successful replicator” • Fidelity: copying-accuracy • Fecundity: copying frequency • Longevity: the characteristic of remaining distributed in the population long enough for selection pressures to act

4. Blackmore’s Book: The Meme Machine • Recently, Blackmore has become an outspoken and extreme proponent of memetic theory • Millions of memes are created each day • Memes are created by combination and variation of existing memes inside people’s brains or during transmission (this provides the variation necessary for selection to operate) • Memes hop from brain to brain (sometimes via an intermediary such as film or written word)—thus, they replicate their essence • Only the most successful memes (the ones that are most attractive to imitators) survive Blackmore, Susan (1999). The meme machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

5. Imitation • Blackmore (and Dawkins) defines memes as units of imitation • Imitation: the transmission of a meme from one brain to another, even if only the “gist” is transmitted • Memes can be • Songs • Stories • A way of performing a specific task • Fashioning a hand-axe Blackmore, Susan (1999). The meme machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

6. Blackmore Continued • 2 reasons why some memes succeed and others fail: • The nature of human beings as imitators and selectors • Evolved psychological mechanisms (our interpretation of her long-winded explanation of perceptual biases) • The nature of the memes themselves • The ways them combine and tag along with one another Blackmore, Susan (1999). The meme machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

7. Blackmore:Cui Bono? (“Who Benefits?”] • Because memes vary, are inherited, and are selected for, they are replicators which should be thought of by taking the “meme’s eye view” • Because there is enormous selection pressure, only the “best” replicators will prevail • Memes that most often occupy our incessant trains of thought will survive (may explain why the seemingly energetically wasteful business of the mind came to be) • Why so hard to meditate? Because memes are competing for mental rehearsal? Are memes “trying” to replicate? Blackmore, Susan (1999). The meme machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

8. Blackmore in Outer Space: Memetic Drive • “We seem to have a brain surplus to requirements, surplus to adaptive needs” (p.67) • What selection pressure explains this? • Blackmore: “The turning point in our evolutionary history was when we began to imitate each other” • This was the birth of a new replicator: the meme Blackmore, Susan (1999). The meme machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

9. Memetic Drive, continued • Imitation led to an increase in brain size because it required three skills: • Making decisions about what to imitate • Complex transformations from one point of view to another • Production of matching bodily actions • Initially, the selection pressure was biological: the best imitators were able to learn useful skills that facilitated survival Blackmore, Susan (1999). The meme machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

10. Memetic Drive, continued • Eventually, there may have been sexual selection pressures as well (“mate with the best imitators”) • If this is the case, we are designed in our modern form to be the hosts for memes to inhabit and replicate • Blackmore’s book is called “The Meme Machine” • We are the machines!!!! • Blackmore may be overextending the reach of the meme; we are not alone in making this assertion……………. Blackmore, Susan (1999). The meme machine. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

11. Gil-White • Argues that memes lack the copying fidelity to be considered selfish replicators • Memes mutate in every act of transmission (imitation), even by the same person!!!! • Meme’s eye view “does more to distort than enlighten our understanding of cultural processes” (p. 1) Gil-White, Francisco (2004). Common Misunderstandings of memes (and genes). In S. Hurley & N Chater (Eds), Perspectives on imitation: Form mirror neurons to memes: MIT Press.

12. Gil-White, continued • However, memes can nonetheless be involved in a Darwinian selection process, if the copying distribution is around an average of perfect accuracy • Some produce a more effective replica • Some produce a less effective replica Gil-White, Francisco (2004). Common Misunderstandings of memes (and genes). In S. Hurley & N Chater (Eds), Perspectives on imitation: Form mirror neurons to memes: MIT Press.

13. Gil-White, continued • Cumulative adaptation requires: • “Sufficient accuracy in production of descendents such that superior variants can occasionally emerge • Sufficient accuracy such that, at the pop level (x), we can speak of meaningful, directional, change” (p. 10) Gil-White, Francisco (2004). Common Misunderstandings of memes (and genes). In S. Hurley & N Chater (Eds), Perspectives on imitation: Form mirror neurons to memes: MIT Press.

14. Gil-White, continued • Against Memetic Drive: “A meme cannot select for a gene unless is • Widespread (meta-populationally) and • Stable (inter-generationally)…. But for Blackmore, this is a catch-22, because what puts the meme in the position to select for a gene is the fact that this same gene evolved first” Thus, it appears that culture is just one of many influential selection pressures that subserves biological evolution Gil-White, Francisco (2004). Common Misunderstandings of memes (and genes). In S. Hurley & N Chater (Eds), Perspectives on imitation: Form mirror neurons to memes: MIT Press.

15. Gil-White, continued • Stop Theorizing!! Do Research!!! • Memetics will never find secure footing without empirical support. Gil-White, Francisco (2004). Common Misunderstandings of memes (and genes). In S. Hurley & N Chater (Eds), Perspectives on imitation: Form mirror neurons to memes: MIT Press.

16. Strengths • It appears that cumulative adaptation does happen at the cultural level (as discussed by Gil-White) • Memetics provides an excellent metaphoric framework for the discussion of cultural phenomena

17. Weaknesses • Memetic Drive: Blackmore, though entertaining, is ultimately certifiable