Table Of ContentHalf-title Page: i
Title Page: iii
Copyright Page: iv
Contents Page: v
1 Introduction Page: 1
2 The Meme Hypothesis Page: 6
Genetic Evolution Page: 6
Natural Selection Page: 6
Genetics Page: 7
Why Accept Gene Theory? Page: 8
The Meme Hypothesis Page: 9
The Gene-Meme Analogy Page: 11
Why Accept the Meme Hypothesis? Page: 12
Sociobiology Page: 14
Towards an Adequate Theory of Cultural Evolution Page: 16
3 Cultural DNA Page: 18
Information and Its Effects Page: 19
Representational Content: The DNA of Culture Page: 20
Representational Content–a Technical Interlude Page: 21
Simple Indicator Theory Page: 21
The Disjunctive Problem Page: 23
The Philosophers’ Frog Page: 24
Ben’s Lucky Mistake Page: 25
Types of Property Page: 26
Different Sorts of Representation Page: 28
Nonassociative Learning: Representations as “Switches” Page: 28
Internal Properties Page: 29
Internal Properties and Lucky Mistakes Page: 30
Indeterminate Content? Page: 31
Associative Learning Page: 33
The Story So Far Page: 34
Representational Content: The DNA of Culture Page: 35
Conclusions Page: 37
4 The Replication of Complex Culture Page: 39
How Is Cultural Information Copied? Page: 39
The Replication of Complexity Page: 41
Genetic Replication Page: 43
Memetic Replication Page: 43
Memes Versus Genes Page: 46
Conclusions Page: 47
5 Variation Page: 48
Innovation and Genes Page: 48
Innovation and Memes: Mutation Page: 50
Memetic Innovation as a Mental Process Page: 51
Innovation and Memes: Recombination Page: 52
Memes and Their Alleles Page: 54
Too Much Variation? Page: 56
Conclusions Page: 56
6 Selection Page: 57
Factors in Memetic Selection Page: 58
The Memetic Environment Page: 59
The Physical Environment Page: 61
The Genetic Environment Page: 61
Human Psychology Page: 62
Memetic Content Page: 64
Relative Fitness Page: 65
Conclusions Page: 67
7 The Story So Far Page: 68
Selection Page: 68
Replication Page: 69
Variation Page: 70
Memes and the Mind Page: 70
8 The Human Mind: Meme Complex with a Virus? Page: 72
Richard Dawkins Page: 72
Good Memes Versus Mental Viruses Page: 73
Science: Meme or Virus? Page: 74
Parasites Versus “Bad” Replicators Page: 75
Viruses: A Biological Detail Page: 76
Daniel Dennett Page: 77
Confusion Number One: Where Do Memes Come From? Page: 78
Vocabulary Page: 78
Confusion Number Two: Vehicles Versus Phenotypic Effects Page: 79
Confusio Number Three: Representatio Versus That Which Is Represented Page: 80
Dawkins and Dennett Page: 82
Memes and the Mind Page: 83
Where Are Memes? Page: 84
The Extended Phenotype: Genes Page: 85
The Extended Phenotype: Dennett Page: 86
The Mind: Product of Genes or Memes? Page: 87
The Extended Phenotype: Memes Page: 88
The Result Page: 89
9 The Meme’s Eye View Page: 92
Copy-the-Product Versus Copy-the-Instructions Page: 92
Not Copying the Product Page: 93
Memes and Their Effects Page: 95
Memetic “Drive” Page: 95
Meme Fountains Page: 96
Religion as an Example of Memetic Drive Page: 97
Problems for Memetic Drive Page: 98
Imitation Page: 100
What Is “Imitation”? Page: 101
Does Culture Replicate At All? Page: 102
Dan Sperber Page: 102
Sperber’s Test for Replication Page: 104
Dawkins’s Test for Replication Page: 104
Sperber Versus Dawkins Page: 105
Back to Sperber Page: 106
Sperber’s Test: A Problem for Memes? Page: 107
Robert Boyd and Peter J. Richerson Page: 108
Replication Versus Inference Page: 109
Replication Versus “Averaging” Page: 110
Conclusions Page: 112
Imitation: A Recap Page: 112
Memes and the Mind Page: 115
10 Early Cultural Evolution Page: 116
The Emergence of Genes Page: 116
Culture’s “Primeval Soup” Page: 118
Behavioural Patterns Page: 121
An Example Page: 123
Innate Prerequisites for Primitive Replicators Page: 124
What Is Special About Memes? Page: 128
Innate Prerequisites for Concepts Page: 130
Brain Size Page: 130
Comparing Representations Page: 132
Meta-Representation Today Page: 133
Which Replicators Count as Memes? Page: 135
Imitation Again Page: 135
Different Levels of Imitation Page: 136
Memes and Moder Human Culture Page: 139
The Beginnings of Memetic Evolution Page: 139
Conclusions Page: 141
11 Memetic DNA Page: 142
Words Page: 142
Memes as Words? Page: 143
There’s More to Language Than Words Page: 144
Words and Their Meanings Page: 144
How Powerful Are Words? Page: 145
Memes as Words–or Language? Page: 146
Language: A Representational System Page: 147
Representational Systems Page: 147
Back to Genes Page: 148
Memetic RSs Page: 149
Different RSs Page: 150
Meta-Representation Again Page: 152
The Significance of Non-Linguistic RSs Page: 152
Comparing RSs Page: 153
Robert Aunger Page: 154
Particulate Memes Page: 157
What Does Common Sense Dictate? Page: 158
Information and Actions Page: 159
Translation Versus Transformation Page: 160
Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device Page: 161
The Uniformity of Language Page: 162
Nonuniform Nonlinguistic RSs Page: 162
The Meta-Representation Device Page: 163
Conclusions Page: 167
12 Memes and the Mind Page: 168
Beliefs as Memes? Page: 169
The Mind as a Muscle Page: 170
The Parable of the Sower Page: 171
Directed Evolution? Page: 173
Engineering Design Methods Page: 174
“Design Evolution” Page: 176
Evolution and Design Reconciled Page: 181
Different Points of View Page: 182
Conclusion Page: 183
13 Science, Religion and Society: What Can Memes Tell Us? Page: 185
Science Page: 185
Religion Page: 189
Contradictions from Genetics Page: 194
Suicide Page: 195
Contraception Page: 196
14 Conclusions Page: 197
The Meme Hypothesis Page: 197
Replication: A Process of Assembly Page: 198
Particulate Memes Page: 198
Representational Content: Memetic DNA Page: 199
One DNA; Many RSs Page: 201
Where Are Memes? Page: 201
Human Minds and Culture Page: 202
Variation and Selection Page: 204
The Selfish Meme: A Critical Reassessment Page: 205
Acknowledgements Page: 209
Notes Page: 211
Chapter 1 Introduction Page: 211
Chapter 2 The Meme Hypothesis Page: 211
Chapter 3 Cultural DNA Page: 211
Chapter 4 The Replication of Complex Culture Page: 212
Chapter 5 Variation Page: 212
Chapter 6 Selection Page: 212
Chapter 8 The Human Mind: Meme Complex with a Virus? Page: 212
Chapter 9 The Meme’s Eye View Page: 213
Chapter 10 Early Cultural Evolution Page: 214
Chapter 11 Memetic DNA Page: 215
Chapter 12 Memes and the Mind Page: 215
Chapter 13 Science, Religion and Society: What Can Memes Tell Us? Page: 216
Chapter 14 Conclusions Page: 216
Bibliography Page: 217
Index Page: 225
Description:Culture is a unique and fascinating aspect of the human species. How did it emerge and how does it develop? Richard Dawkins suggested culture evolves and that memes are cultural replicators, subject to variation and selection in the same way as genes are in the biological world. Thus human culture is the product of a mindless evolutionary algorithm. Does this imply, as some have argued, that we are mere meme machines and that the conscious self is an illusion? This highly readable and accessible book extends Dawkins's theory, presenting for the first time a fully developed concept of cultural DNA. Distin argues that culture's development can be seen as the result of memetic evolution and as the product of human creativity. Memetic evolution is perfectly compatible with the view of humans as conscious and intelligent. This book should find a wide readership amongst philosophers, psychologists, sociologists and non-academic readers.
