Cultural Evolution: Integration and Scepticism
... about human culture, not because it thinks of cultural phenomena as simple products or analogues of biological processes, but instead because it typically recommends that explanatory tools of a kind that have been successful in the biological sciences can be used to good effect when one confronts hu ...
... about human culture, not because it thinks of cultural phenomena as simple products or analogues of biological processes, but instead because it typically recommends that explanatory tools of a kind that have been successful in the biological sciences can be used to good effect when one confronts hu ...
TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN AS AN EVOLUTIONARY PROCESS
... memetic approach to cultural evolution initiated by Richard Dawkins (1976) and since then developed by a number of advocates (Blackmore, 1999; Aunger, 2000; 2002). According to memetic theory, human culture is realized and transmitted through cultural units called memes, which are units of meaning t ...
... memetic approach to cultural evolution initiated by Richard Dawkins (1976) and since then developed by a number of advocates (Blackmore, 1999; Aunger, 2000; 2002). According to memetic theory, human culture is realized and transmitted through cultural units called memes, which are units of meaning t ...
Cultural Transmission and Diffusion
... the signal. Some kinds of information acquired through social learning might not be consistent with other beliefs that an individual holds, for example, and would be rejected for that reason. Later, for further transmission to occur, performances of the related behaviors must also be motivated. Thus ...
... the signal. Some kinds of information acquired through social learning might not be consistent with other beliefs that an individual holds, for example, and would be rejected for that reason. Later, for further transmission to occur, performances of the related behaviors must also be motivated. Thus ...
The Population Memetics of Bird Song
... colonization of new areas by a small number of individuals. During such a founder event birds will likely carry a small set of the total meme pool existing in the original population (e.g. Baker and Jenkins 1987). The strength of drift depends on population size. Most population genetic models make ...
... colonization of new areas by a small number of individuals. During such a founder event birds will likely carry a small set of the total meme pool existing in the original population (e.g. Baker and Jenkins 1987). The strength of drift depends on population size. Most population genetic models make ...
The Units of Culture
... have embraced the notion with few apparent misgivings. Some have even proposed a new field of “memetics” (e.g., Lynch 1996; Blackmore 1998). Wilson (1998) has abandoned his “culturgen” construct and adopted the meme, although his definition of it differs somewhat from definitions proposed by others. ...
... have embraced the notion with few apparent misgivings. Some have even proposed a new field of “memetics” (e.g., Lynch 1996; Blackmore 1998). Wilson (1998) has abandoned his “culturgen” construct and adopted the meme, although his definition of it differs somewhat from definitions proposed by others. ...
What`s in a Meme? The Development of the Meme as a Unit of Culture
... and a few others, seem to be operationalized at lower, more fundamental levels. The higher level labels appear to be particular arrangements of the lower level units. But which of these, if any, is the (or, an) useful unit of cultural transmission? Which is basic to cultural learning, cultural diffu ...
... and a few others, seem to be operationalized at lower, more fundamental levels. The higher level labels appear to be particular arrangements of the lower level units. But which of these, if any, is the (or, an) useful unit of cultural transmission? Which is basic to cultural learning, cultural diffu ...
Making the Most of Web 2.0
... • Is our own human evolution, part of our nature. • Is a complete new way of doing things in and with the Internet. • Is where “the medium and the message is us” evolving in the way we socially live with and within it, networking, participating and contributing, using and enhancing it every day. • I ...
... • Is our own human evolution, part of our nature. • Is a complete new way of doing things in and with the Internet. • Is where “the medium and the message is us” evolving in the way we socially live with and within it, networking, participating and contributing, using and enhancing it every day. • I ...
see his PPT on this
... of different ways of defining communication. The functions and definitions used here are not the correct ones; they are useful for our purposes. ...
... of different ways of defining communication. The functions and definitions used here are not the correct ones; they are useful for our purposes. ...
2/11 - University of Texas
... Kills most bacteria. Except if some have mutation that allow them to be resistant. ...
... Kills most bacteria. Except if some have mutation that allow them to be resistant. ...
Meme (French mème, German Mem), a term coined by Richard
... tongue, misinterpretations and the like) as well as by modification and recombination of memes by the bearer subjects (intentionally or because of, say, incorrect recollection). The reservoir of potential human bearers and their capacity for picking up, storing and passing on memes are limited. Ther ...
... tongue, misinterpretations and the like) as well as by modification and recombination of memes by the bearer subjects (intentionally or because of, say, incorrect recollection). The reservoir of potential human bearers and their capacity for picking up, storing and passing on memes are limited. Ther ...
The Evolution of Culture
... E.5. The Evolution of Culture f. Questions about the “memeplex”: • “Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via ... imitation.” (Dawkins). How do memes “leap fr ...
... E.5. The Evolution of Culture f. Questions about the “memeplex”: • “Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via ... imitation.” (Dawkins). How do memes “leap fr ...
Meme
A meme (/ˈmiːm/ meem) is ""an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture"". A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.The word meme is a shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme (from Ancient Greek μίμημα pronounced [míːmɛːma] mīmēma, ""imitated thing"", from μιμεῖσθαι mimeisthai, ""to imitate"", from μῖμος mimos, ""mime"") coined by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catchphrases, fashion, and the technology of building arches.Proponents theorize that memes are a viral phenomenon that may evolve by natural selection in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution. Memes do this through the processes of variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance, each of which influences a meme's reproductive success. Memes spread through the behavior that they generate in their hosts. Memes that propagate less prolifically may become extinct, while others may survive, spread, and (for better or for worse) mutate. Memes that replicate most effectively enjoy more success, and some may replicate effectively even when they prove to be detrimental to the welfare of their hosts.A field of study called memetics arose in the 1990s to explore the concepts and transmission of memes in terms of an evolutionary model. Criticism from a variety of fronts has challenged the notion that academic study can examine memes empirically. However, developments in neuroimaging may make empirical study possible. Some commentators in the social sciences question the idea that one can meaningfully categorize culture in terms of discrete units, and are especially critical of the biological nature of the theory's underpinnings. Others have argued that this use of the term is the result of a misunderstanding of the original proposal.Dawkins's own position is somewhat ambiguous: he obviously welcomed N. K. Humphrey's suggestion that ""memes should be considered as living structures, not just metaphorically"" and wanted to regard memes as ""physically residing in the brain"". Later, he argued that his original intentions, presumably before his approval of Humphrey's opinion, had been simpler. At the New Directors' Showcase 2013 in Cannes, Dawkins' opinion on memetics was deliberately ambiguous.