17-09-09 The Selfish Gene on Memetics

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Chapter 11 Idea List:

1. Memetic evolution is much faster than genetic evolution
2. Memes can be seen as alive, if life evolves by the differential survival of replicators.
3. Memes are parasites, in that they use their host to survive and reproduce.
4. The emergence of the meme as a new replicator is akin to the emergence of alien life on our planet.
5. The name meme comes out of ‘mime’ - from the imitation that memes use to spread.
6. Standards for memes:
   1. Longevity
   2. Virality / Fecundity
      1. Creation of Desire to Spread
         1. Value Added
         2. Psychological Appeal
      2. Ease of Spread
         1. Simplicity
         2. Attachment to other memes in cultural environment
      3. Creation of Need to Spread
         1. Ex., Hell
   3. Copying Fidelity?
      1. Empirically, memes are constantly modified and blended, certainly at a low level of abstraction
7. Memes often have Hierarchical Structure
   1. Memes exist at multiple levels of abstraction
   2. Memes have higher fidelity at more abstract levels
8. Memes can be thought of as active agents, working for their own survival. Memes defend themselves, invade others, etc.
9. Memes compete over limited resources.
   1. Attention
   2. Memory
   3. Time (Ex. Radio / TV Time)
   4. Space (Ex. Billboard Space, Newspaper Column-Inches, Library Shelf Space)
10. Interaction with Cultural Environment
11. Many memes are closely linked and share their selection outcome
    1. Ex. Organized Church, with architecture, rituals, laws, music, art, writings.
12. Memes can hijack other memes to propagate themselves.
13. Explanation for behavior that doesn’t have a grounding in evolution
14. A gene for celibacy could never survive, but a meme for celibacy can.
15. Memes can oppose evolutionary success of the human carrying the meme
16. Ex. Celibacy, Life after Death
17. There is stability in the meme pool, which new memes have to invade. Pool goes to evolutionarily stable solution.
18. Genetic longevity through children as weaker than memetic longevity.
19. We don’t need to look for biological survival value of traits like religion, music, dancing, etc. - we just need to show that the memes have properties that advantage their own survival.

Source: Original Google Doc