Anthony O'Hear
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198250043
- eISBN:
- 9780191598111
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198250045.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The theory of evolution may be successful in explaining natural history, but it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and rationality, as embodied in ...
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The theory of evolution may be successful in explaining natural history, but it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and rationality, as embodied in language, we give ourselves ideals that cannot be justified in terms of survival‐promotion or reproductive advantage. Evolutionary theory is unable to give satisfactory accounts of such distinctive features of human life as the quest for knowledge, our moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty. At most, it can account for their prefiguration at some earlier stage of development than the human. In all these areas we transcend our biological origins, and such mechanisms as genetic survival, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, and sexual selection. But because of our rationality we can also transcend our cultural inheritance explanation of which in terms of memes is both hollow and misleading. We are rooted both in our biology and in our cultural inheritance; but, sociobiology and sociology notwithstanding, we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each make our personal journey through life.Less
The theory of evolution may be successful in explaining natural history, but it is of limited value when applied to the human world. Because of our reflectiveness and rationality, as embodied in language, we give ourselves ideals that cannot be justified in terms of survival‐promotion or reproductive advantage. Evolutionary theory is unable to give satisfactory accounts of such distinctive features of human life as the quest for knowledge, our moral sense, and the appreciation of beauty. At most, it can account for their prefiguration at some earlier stage of development than the human. In all these areas we transcend our biological origins, and such mechanisms as genetic survival, kin selection, reciprocal altruism, and sexual selection. But because of our rationality we can also transcend our cultural inheritance explanation of which in terms of memes is both hollow and misleading. We are rooted both in our biology and in our cultural inheritance; but, sociobiology and sociology notwithstanding, we are prisoners neither of our genes nor of the ideas we encounter as we each make our personal journey through life.
Michael Doebeli
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691128931
- eISBN:
- 9781400838936
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691128931.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology
This chapter examines adaptive diversification in language and religion. The historic record contains many examples of the types of diversification occurring in these models. Diversification in ...
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This chapter examines adaptive diversification in language and religion. The historic record contains many examples of the types of diversification occurring in these models. Diversification in languages has been rampant throughout history, and must have often occurred under substantial contact between hosts of diverging language memes. Similarly, it seems clear that religious diversification has often occurred, and continuous to occur, under conditions of substantial contact. The models illustrate that diversifying processes should be expected to operate whenever the likelihood of secession from a dominant culture increases with increasing dominance of the mainstream culture. Intuitively, it is not hard to imagine that the attractiveness of a culture diminishes as the culture becomes more dominant, dogmatic, and perhaps oppressive, and that the desire to stand out and be different increases in increasingly conformist cultures.Less
This chapter examines adaptive diversification in language and religion. The historic record contains many examples of the types of diversification occurring in these models. Diversification in languages has been rampant throughout history, and must have often occurred under substantial contact between hosts of diverging language memes. Similarly, it seems clear that religious diversification has often occurred, and continuous to occur, under conditions of substantial contact. The models illustrate that diversifying processes should be expected to operate whenever the likelihood of secession from a dominant culture increases with increasing dominance of the mainstream culture. Intuitively, it is not hard to imagine that the attractiveness of a culture diminishes as the culture becomes more dominant, dogmatic, and perhaps oppressive, and that the desire to stand out and be different increases in increasingly conformist cultures.
Jack Zipes
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153384
- eISBN:
- 9781400841820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153384.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter expands on the author's most recent books, Why Fairy Tales Stick and Relentless Progress, and includes new research by scholars interested in interdisciplinary approaches to cultural ...
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This chapter expands on the author's most recent books, Why Fairy Tales Stick and Relentless Progress, and includes new research by scholars interested in interdisciplinary approaches to cultural evolution. It clarifies why and how tales were created and told, and formed the basis of culture. It suggests that oral tales were imitated and replicated as memes in antiquity to form the fiber of culture and tradition. Taxonomies in the nineteenth century were established in response to recognizable features of tales as well as to organize and order types of stories. “Modern” genres originated during the Enlightenment and are basically social institutions that have defined cultural artifacts and patterns, divided them rationally into disciplines, and established rules and regulations for their study. In many ways, the fairy tale defies such definition and categorization.Less
This chapter expands on the author's most recent books, Why Fairy Tales Stick and Relentless Progress, and includes new research by scholars interested in interdisciplinary approaches to cultural evolution. It clarifies why and how tales were created and told, and formed the basis of culture. It suggests that oral tales were imitated and replicated as memes in antiquity to form the fiber of culture and tradition. Taxonomies in the nineteenth century were established in response to recognizable features of tales as well as to organize and order types of stories. “Modern” genres originated during the Enlightenment and are basically social institutions that have defined cultural artifacts and patterns, divided them rationally into disciplines, and established rules and regulations for their study. In many ways, the fairy tale defies such definition and categorization.
Ryan M. Milner
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034999
- eISBN:
- 9780262335911
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034999.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
This book presents an analysis of internet memes, the linguistic, image, audio, and video texts created, circulated, and transformed by countless cultural participants across vast networks and ...
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This book presents an analysis of internet memes, the linguistic, image, audio, and video texts created, circulated, and transformed by countless cultural participants across vast networks and collectives. They can be widely shared catchphrases, auto-tuned songs, manipulated stock photos, or recordings of physical performances. They’re used to make jokes, argue points, and connect friends. As these texts have become increasingly prominent and prolific, the logics underscoring them—multimodality, reappropriation, resonance, collectivism, and spread—have become lynchpins of mediated participation. Even as individual internet memes rise and fall, the contemporary media ecology persists in being memetic. In this ecology, vibrant collective conversations occur across constellations of mediated commentary, remix, and play. Through memetic media, everyday members of the public can contribute their small strands of expression to the vast cultural tapestry.
This book assesses the relationship between those small strands and that vast tapestry, exploring the good, the bad, and the in-between of collective conversation. Memetic media are used to connect participants across distance and context, but they’re also used to dehumanize others through the dominant perspectives they normalize. They’re used to express beyond narrow gatekeeping systems, but they’re still embedded in wider culture industries. Memetic media bring with them a mix of new potentials and old tensions, woven into the cultural tapestry by countless contributors. This book charts that intertwine.Less
This book presents an analysis of internet memes, the linguistic, image, audio, and video texts created, circulated, and transformed by countless cultural participants across vast networks and collectives. They can be widely shared catchphrases, auto-tuned songs, manipulated stock photos, or recordings of physical performances. They’re used to make jokes, argue points, and connect friends. As these texts have become increasingly prominent and prolific, the logics underscoring them—multimodality, reappropriation, resonance, collectivism, and spread—have become lynchpins of mediated participation. Even as individual internet memes rise and fall, the contemporary media ecology persists in being memetic. In this ecology, vibrant collective conversations occur across constellations of mediated commentary, remix, and play. Through memetic media, everyday members of the public can contribute their small strands of expression to the vast cultural tapestry.
This book assesses the relationship between those small strands and that vast tapestry, exploring the good, the bad, and the in-between of collective conversation. Memetic media are used to connect participants across distance and context, but they’re also used to dehumanize others through the dominant perspectives they normalize. They’re used to express beyond narrow gatekeeping systems, but they’re still embedded in wider culture industries. Memetic media bring with them a mix of new potentials and old tensions, woven into the cultural tapestry by countless contributors. This book charts that intertwine.
SCOTT ATRAN
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195178036
- eISBN:
- 9780199850112
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195178036.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Religion
Memes are hypothetical cultural units, an idea or practice, passed on by imitation. Although nonbiological, they undergo Darwinian selection like genes. Cultures and religions are supposedly ...
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Memes are hypothetical cultural units, an idea or practice, passed on by imitation. Although nonbiological, they undergo Darwinian selection like genes. Cultures and religions are supposedly coalitions of memes seeking to maximize their own fitness, regardless of fitness costs for their human hosts. The concept of the meme, introduced by Richard Dawkins in 1976, is now defined as an element of culture that may be considered to be passed on by non-genetic means, especially imitation. Candidate memes include a word, a sentence, a thought, a belief, a melody, a scientific theory, an equation, a philosophical puzzle or a religious ritual. Like genes, memes can pass supposedly “vertically” from parent to child, for example, in the religious practice of circumcision. Memes can also copy themselves “horizontally” from person to person—between peers or from leaders to followers—as with the concept of the meme itself.Less
Memes are hypothetical cultural units, an idea or practice, passed on by imitation. Although nonbiological, they undergo Darwinian selection like genes. Cultures and religions are supposedly coalitions of memes seeking to maximize their own fitness, regardless of fitness costs for their human hosts. The concept of the meme, introduced by Richard Dawkins in 1976, is now defined as an element of culture that may be considered to be passed on by non-genetic means, especially imitation. Candidate memes include a word, a sentence, a thought, a belief, a melody, a scientific theory, an equation, a philosophical puzzle or a religious ritual. Like genes, memes can pass supposedly “vertically” from parent to child, for example, in the religious practice of circumcision. Memes can also copy themselves “horizontally” from person to person—between peers or from leaders to followers—as with the concept of the meme itself.
Sean Zdenek
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226312644
- eISBN:
- 9780226312811
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226312811.003.0009
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter looks to the future of closed captioning by discussing three areas in terms of universal design: video search, search engine optimization, and findability; pedagogy, interactive ...
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This chapter looks to the future of closed captioning by discussing three areas in terms of universal design: video search, search engine optimization, and findability; pedagogy, interactive transcripts, and fully searchable lecture archives; and mainstream uses of captioning and subtitling that suggest a much wider role for captioning. In addition to interactive transcripts and search engine optimization, closed captioning enters the mainstream through a variety of channels: enhanced episodes, easter eggs, caption fails, animated GIFs, parody videos, creative or humorous captioning, fictional captions and Internet memes, occasional English subtitles, direct “fourth wall” references to the captions, and animated captions.Less
This chapter looks to the future of closed captioning by discussing three areas in terms of universal design: video search, search engine optimization, and findability; pedagogy, interactive transcripts, and fully searchable lecture archives; and mainstream uses of captioning and subtitling that suggest a much wider role for captioning. In addition to interactive transcripts and search engine optimization, closed captioning enters the mainstream through a variety of channels: enhanced episodes, easter eggs, caption fails, animated GIFs, parody videos, creative or humorous captioning, fictional captions and Internet memes, occasional English subtitles, direct “fourth wall” references to the captions, and animated captions.
Henry Plotkin
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192632449
- eISBN:
- 9780191670473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632449.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter argues against memetics as a science that decreases culture to biology. In particular, it briefly refutes the charge of reductionism, and then attempts to save memetics from the second ...
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This chapter argues against memetics as a science that decreases culture to biology. In particular, it briefly refutes the charge of reductionism, and then attempts to save memetics from the second criticism – simple-mindedness – which is justifiably invoked against memetics of a particular kind. This is handled by appealing to psychological mechanisms as the basis for a pluralistic approach to the concept of memes. There are many different forms of knowledge and belief. Two kinds of memes – ‘surface-level’ and ‘deep-level’ – are also explained. The beliefs of universal Darwinism, replicators, and interactors as the basic concepts of memetics may substantially establish a productive approach to the understanding of culture; even more importantly, it might offer one of the conceptual bridges between the biological and social sciences.Less
This chapter argues against memetics as a science that decreases culture to biology. In particular, it briefly refutes the charge of reductionism, and then attempts to save memetics from the second criticism – simple-mindedness – which is justifiably invoked against memetics of a particular kind. This is handled by appealing to psychological mechanisms as the basis for a pluralistic approach to the concept of memes. There are many different forms of knowledge and belief. Two kinds of memes – ‘surface-level’ and ‘deep-level’ – are also explained. The beliefs of universal Darwinism, replicators, and interactors as the basic concepts of memetics may substantially establish a productive approach to the understanding of culture; even more importantly, it might offer one of the conceptual bridges between the biological and social sciences.
Augustine Brannigan
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199738571
- eISBN:
- 9780199918669
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199738571.003.0155
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
Genocide is approached with the assistance of two concepts: pathological altruism and pathological obedience. The first is marked by the utilization of genocide as an elite policy employed for ...
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Genocide is approached with the assistance of two concepts: pathological altruism and pathological obedience. The first is marked by the utilization of genocide as an elite policy employed for self-interests but disguised as preservation of the group. A necessary requirement of genocide is the “pathological obedience” of a large section of the population, as in the case of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. This chapter explores the role of self-control as an explanation of crime. Self-control is stable over the life course but it is argued, following Elias’s work on the “civilizing process,” that levels of self-control can vary over time. The collective investment in how individuals are socialized follows changing social memes. Elias argues that genocide is a reversion to barbarism. Alternatively, pathological obedience may arise from oversocialization, particularly in contexts of militarism and totalitarianism. This suggests that Milgram’s “agentic state” is cultural in origin.Less
Genocide is approached with the assistance of two concepts: pathological altruism and pathological obedience. The first is marked by the utilization of genocide as an elite policy employed for self-interests but disguised as preservation of the group. A necessary requirement of genocide is the “pathological obedience” of a large section of the population, as in the case of the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. This chapter explores the role of self-control as an explanation of crime. Self-control is stable over the life course but it is argued, following Elias’s work on the “civilizing process,” that levels of self-control can vary over time. The collective investment in how individuals are socialized follows changing social memes. Elias argues that genocide is a reversion to barbarism. Alternatively, pathological obedience may arise from oversocialization, particularly in contexts of militarism and totalitarianism. This suggests that Milgram’s “agentic state” is cultural in origin.
J. Arvid Ågren
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- August 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780198862260
- eISBN:
- 9780191895050
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198862260.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
To many evolutionary biologists, the central challenge of their discipline is to explain adaptation, the appearance of design in the living world. With the theory of evolution by natural selection, ...
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To many evolutionary biologists, the central challenge of their discipline is to explain adaptation, the appearance of design in the living world. With the theory of evolution by natural selection, Charles Darwin elegantly showed how a purely mechanistic process can achieve this striking feature of nature. Since Darwin, the way many biologists think about evolution and natural selection is as a theory about individual organisms. Over a century later, a subtle but radical shift in perspective emerged with the gene’s-eye view of evolution in which natural selection was conceptualized as a struggle between genes for replication and transmission to the next generation. This viewpoint culminated with the publication of The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (Oxford University Press, 1976) and is now commonly referred to as selfish gene thinking. The gene’s-eye view has subsequently played a central role in evolutionary biology, although it continues to attract controversy. The central aim of this accessible book is to show how the gene’s-eye view differs from the traditional organismal account of evolution, trace its historical origins, clarify typical misunderstandings and, by using examples from contemporary experimental work, show why so many evolutionary biologists still consider it an indispensable heuristic. The book concludes by discussing how selfish gene thinking fits into ongoing debates in evolutionary biology, and what they tell us about the future of the gene’s-eye view of evolution. The Gene’s-Eye View of Evolution is suitable for graduate-level students taking courses in evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, and evolutionary genetics, as well as professional researchers in these fields. It will also appeal to a broader, interdisciplinary audience from the social sciences and humanities including philosophers and historians of scienceLess
To many evolutionary biologists, the central challenge of their discipline is to explain adaptation, the appearance of design in the living world. With the theory of evolution by natural selection, Charles Darwin elegantly showed how a purely mechanistic process can achieve this striking feature of nature. Since Darwin, the way many biologists think about evolution and natural selection is as a theory about individual organisms. Over a century later, a subtle but radical shift in perspective emerged with the gene’s-eye view of evolution in which natural selection was conceptualized as a struggle between genes for replication and transmission to the next generation. This viewpoint culminated with the publication of The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (Oxford University Press, 1976) and is now commonly referred to as selfish gene thinking. The gene’s-eye view has subsequently played a central role in evolutionary biology, although it continues to attract controversy. The central aim of this accessible book is to show how the gene’s-eye view differs from the traditional organismal account of evolution, trace its historical origins, clarify typical misunderstandings and, by using examples from contemporary experimental work, show why so many evolutionary biologists still consider it an indispensable heuristic. The book concludes by discussing how selfish gene thinking fits into ongoing debates in evolutionary biology, and what they tell us about the future of the gene’s-eye view of evolution. The Gene’s-Eye View of Evolution is suitable for graduate-level students taking courses in evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, and evolutionary genetics, as well as professional researchers in these fields. It will also appeal to a broader, interdisciplinary audience from the social sciences and humanities including philosophers and historians of science
Bryce Huebner (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- February 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780199367511
- eISBN:
- 9780199367535
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199367511.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science
Daniel C. Dennett began publishing innovative philosophical research in the late 1960s, and he has continued doing so for the past 45 years. He has addressed questions about the nature of mind and ...
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Daniel C. Dennett began publishing innovative philosophical research in the late 1960s, and he has continued doing so for the past 45 years. He has addressed questions about the nature of mind and consciousness, the possibility of freedom, and the significance of evolution to addressing questions across the cognitive, biological, and social sciences. This book explores the intellectual significance of this research project, bringing together the insights of 11 researchers who are currently working on themes that are relevant to Dennett’s philosophical worldview. Some of the contributions address interpretive issues within Dennett’s corpus, and they aim to bring increased clarity to Dennett’s project. Others report novel empirical data, at least in part, in the service of fleshing out Dennett’s claims. Some of them provide a fresh take on a Dennettian theme, and others extend his views in novel directions. Like Dennett’s own work, these papers draw on a wide range of different methodologies, from appeals to intuition pumps and scientific data, to turning the knobs on a theory to see what it can do. But each of them aims to be readable, and approachable. And as a whole, the volume provides a critical and constructive overview of Dennett’s stance-based methodology, as well as explorations of his claims about metal representation, consciousness, cultural evolution, and religion.Less
Daniel C. Dennett began publishing innovative philosophical research in the late 1960s, and he has continued doing so for the past 45 years. He has addressed questions about the nature of mind and consciousness, the possibility of freedom, and the significance of evolution to addressing questions across the cognitive, biological, and social sciences. This book explores the intellectual significance of this research project, bringing together the insights of 11 researchers who are currently working on themes that are relevant to Dennett’s philosophical worldview. Some of the contributions address interpretive issues within Dennett’s corpus, and they aim to bring increased clarity to Dennett’s project. Others report novel empirical data, at least in part, in the service of fleshing out Dennett’s claims. Some of them provide a fresh take on a Dennettian theme, and others extend his views in novel directions. Like Dennett’s own work, these papers draw on a wide range of different methodologies, from appeals to intuition pumps and scientific data, to turning the knobs on a theory to see what it can do. But each of them aims to be readable, and approachable. And as a whole, the volume provides a critical and constructive overview of Dennett’s stance-based methodology, as well as explorations of his claims about metal representation, consciousness, cultural evolution, and religion.
Joel Penney
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- June 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780190658052
- eISBN:
- 9780190658090
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190658052.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics, Democratization
From hashtag activism to the flood of political memes on social media, the landscape of political communication is being transformed by the grassroots circulation of opinion on digital platforms and ...
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From hashtag activism to the flood of political memes on social media, the landscape of political communication is being transformed by the grassroots circulation of opinion on digital platforms and beyond. The Citizen Marketer offers a new framework for understanding this phenomenon by exploring how everyday people assist in the promotion of political media messages in hopes of persuading their peers and shaping the public mind. The analysis is grounded in the firsthand testimony of citizens who have engaged in popular activities such as changing their profile picture to a protest symbol, tweeting links to news articles to raise strategic awareness about select issues, and publicly displaying everything from slogan T-shirts to viral videos that promote a favored electoral candidate. In contrast to the “slacktivism” critique often leveled at these media-based forms of political activity, The Citizen Marketer argues that they enable citizens to take on the potentially influential role of viral political marketers as they participate in the networked dissemination of ideas. Furthermore, the discussion critically examines the promises of the citizen marketer approach for expanding democratic participation and elevating the voices of marginalized groups, as well as the risks that these practices pose for polarization and partisanship, the trivialization of issues, and control and manipulation by elites. By investigating the logics and motivations behind the citizen marketer, as well as how this approach has developed in response to key social, cultural, and technological changes, the book charts the evolution of activism in the age of mediatized politics, promotional culture, and viral circulation.Less
From hashtag activism to the flood of political memes on social media, the landscape of political communication is being transformed by the grassroots circulation of opinion on digital platforms and beyond. The Citizen Marketer offers a new framework for understanding this phenomenon by exploring how everyday people assist in the promotion of political media messages in hopes of persuading their peers and shaping the public mind. The analysis is grounded in the firsthand testimony of citizens who have engaged in popular activities such as changing their profile picture to a protest symbol, tweeting links to news articles to raise strategic awareness about select issues, and publicly displaying everything from slogan T-shirts to viral videos that promote a favored electoral candidate. In contrast to the “slacktivism” critique often leveled at these media-based forms of political activity, The Citizen Marketer argues that they enable citizens to take on the potentially influential role of viral political marketers as they participate in the networked dissemination of ideas. Furthermore, the discussion critically examines the promises of the citizen marketer approach for expanding democratic participation and elevating the voices of marginalized groups, as well as the risks that these practices pose for polarization and partisanship, the trivialization of issues, and control and manipulation by elites. By investigating the logics and motivations behind the citizen marketer, as well as how this approach has developed in response to key social, cultural, and technological changes, the book charts the evolution of activism in the age of mediatized politics, promotional culture, and viral circulation.
Mary Midgley
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197262627
- eISBN:
- 9780191771989
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262627.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, History of Ideas
This chapter explores the concept of cultural evolution by looking at a variety of perspectives that explain historical change, with emphasis on their advantages and limitations. It begins by ...
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This chapter explores the concept of cultural evolution by looking at a variety of perspectives that explain historical change, with emphasis on their advantages and limitations. It begins by considering the Marxist conception of history that focused on the role of non-human background factors in shaping human life. It then discusses two misfortunes lighted up by the history of Marxism that tend to afflict a theory about social development when it claims scientific status: fatalism and the illusion of impartiality. It also examines the evolutionary pattern for explaining social change by selectionism and stresses the importance of concentrating on the actual people involved in social change. The chapter concludes by describing the use of ‘memess’ to explain social change.Less
This chapter explores the concept of cultural evolution by looking at a variety of perspectives that explain historical change, with emphasis on their advantages and limitations. It begins by considering the Marxist conception of history that focused on the role of non-human background factors in shaping human life. It then discusses two misfortunes lighted up by the history of Marxism that tend to afflict a theory about social development when it claims scientific status: fatalism and the illusion of impartiality. It also examines the evolutionary pattern for explaining social change by selectionism and stresses the importance of concentrating on the actual people involved in social change. The chapter concludes by describing the use of ‘memess’ to explain social change.
Robert Aunger
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192632449
- eISBN:
- 9780191670473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632449.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
The question that the reader should keep in mind is: Whither memetics? This book aims to see where a reasonable consensus might fall on this spectrum of opinion regarding the utility of the meme ...
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The question that the reader should keep in mind is: Whither memetics? This book aims to see where a reasonable consensus might fall on this spectrum of opinion regarding the utility of the meme concept. As might be expected, perhaps the most fascinating tract lies squarely in the middle: in the temperate zone between the extremes of hot and cold. And some of the middle ground is taken by those who are memes' most ardent defenders. Finding whether memes can explain a comparatively wide range of phenomena vitally relies on determining what memes are. The explanatory target of memetics is culture. Explanation on the linking of memes to culture is provided. The chapters of this book present voices from the range of opinions currently available on the topic of memes. It can be stated that a variety of stances can be legitimately taken with respect to the notion of memes; or at least the current implementation of the notion.Less
The question that the reader should keep in mind is: Whither memetics? This book aims to see where a reasonable consensus might fall on this spectrum of opinion regarding the utility of the meme concept. As might be expected, perhaps the most fascinating tract lies squarely in the middle: in the temperate zone between the extremes of hot and cold. And some of the middle ground is taken by those who are memes' most ardent defenders. Finding whether memes can explain a comparatively wide range of phenomena vitally relies on determining what memes are. The explanatory target of memetics is culture. Explanation on the linking of memes to culture is provided. The chapters of this book present voices from the range of opinions currently available on the topic of memes. It can be stated that a variety of stances can be legitimately taken with respect to the notion of memes; or at least the current implementation of the notion.
Susan Blackmore
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192632449
- eISBN:
- 9780191670473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632449.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Memetics offers novel solutions to old problems, among them the origins and evolution of the human brain, with its specialised language and unique intelligence. Thus, this chapter justifies that ...
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Memetics offers novel solutions to old problems, among them the origins and evolution of the human brain, with its specialised language and unique intelligence. Thus, this chapter justifies that memetics can describe an array of developments, including the rise of big brains, culture, consciousness, and notions of self. It also addresses one further issue linked with the definition of memes. It sticks to Dawkins' original formulation of memes as information that is passed on by imitation. It then reports the advantages of the memetic perspective. Memes began driving genes to generate a brain that was especially good at replicating those memes. In addition, it clarifies the implications of the memetic driving hypothesis. In general, it is proposed that taking the memes' eye view will give as dramatic a transformation in the understanding of human nature as taking the genes' eye view has done in evolutionary biology.Less
Memetics offers novel solutions to old problems, among them the origins and evolution of the human brain, with its specialised language and unique intelligence. Thus, this chapter justifies that memetics can describe an array of developments, including the rise of big brains, culture, consciousness, and notions of self. It also addresses one further issue linked with the definition of memes. It sticks to Dawkins' original formulation of memes as information that is passed on by imitation. It then reports the advantages of the memetic perspective. Memes began driving genes to generate a brain that was especially good at replicating those memes. In addition, it clarifies the implications of the memetic driving hypothesis. In general, it is proposed that taking the memes' eye view will give as dramatic a transformation in the understanding of human nature as taking the genes' eye view has done in evolutionary biology.
Rosaria Conte
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192632449
- eISBN:
- 9780191670473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632449.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter takes a social cognitive perspective on memetics. It clarifies what a social mind is. In addition, it addresses social cognitive models and computational and simulation-based evidence. ...
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This chapter takes a social cognitive perspective on memetics. It clarifies what a social mind is. In addition, it addresses social cognitive models and computational and simulation-based evidence. It also presents some important advantages of memetics. Moreover, contributions which could be offered by Multi-Agents Systems and Agent-Based Social Simulation to the development of memetics are explained. Next, a model of a social cognitive agent is summarized. Furthermore, the model is shown to address some fundamental objectives of a memetic theory: to explain how memes are transmitted; to formulate (working) hypotheses and predictions about to what extent given memes will replicate; to formulate hypotheses about which memes will be more likely to replicate given competition or interference among distinct memetic processes; and to study and anticipate which influences memetic transmission will have on social and collective behaviour. Some fundamental memetic notions are specified in terms of this social cognitive model. Only one primary characteristic of memetic theory is found unsatisfactory after a brief reconsideration of the (many) advantages and (some) disadvantages of the field.Less
This chapter takes a social cognitive perspective on memetics. It clarifies what a social mind is. In addition, it addresses social cognitive models and computational and simulation-based evidence. It also presents some important advantages of memetics. Moreover, contributions which could be offered by Multi-Agents Systems and Agent-Based Social Simulation to the development of memetics are explained. Next, a model of a social cognitive agent is summarized. Furthermore, the model is shown to address some fundamental objectives of a memetic theory: to explain how memes are transmitted; to formulate (working) hypotheses and predictions about to what extent given memes will replicate; to formulate hypotheses about which memes will be more likely to replicate given competition or interference among distinct memetic processes; and to study and anticipate which influences memetic transmission will have on social and collective behaviour. Some fundamental memetic notions are specified in terms of this social cognitive model. Only one primary characteristic of memetic theory is found unsatisfactory after a brief reconsideration of the (many) advantages and (some) disadvantages of the field.
Kevin N. Laland and John Odling-Smee
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192632449
- eISBN:
- 9780191670473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632449.003.0006
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter discusses the evolution of culture, and sketches how ‘memes’ help elucidate that story. It begins with a summary of evolutionary perspective, highlighting the capacity of organisms to ...
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This chapter discusses the evolution of culture, and sketches how ‘memes’ help elucidate that story. It begins with a summary of evolutionary perspective, highlighting the capacity of organisms to modify their environments, which is called ‘niche construction’. It also shows that complex organisms have evolved a set of information-gaining processes that are expressed in niche construction, and that the capacity for acquiring and transmitting memes is one such process. It then argues that, as many animals are capable of learning from others, they too can be said to have memes, and reports how animal protoculture might have evolved into human culture through meme-based niche construction. Moreover, it applies the evolutionary framework to illustrate that the success of a meme depends not just on its infectiousness, but also on the susceptibility of the host, and on the social environment. Furthermore, it provides an example from gene-culture coevolutionary theory to depict how a formal theory of memetics can be of value.Less
This chapter discusses the evolution of culture, and sketches how ‘memes’ help elucidate that story. It begins with a summary of evolutionary perspective, highlighting the capacity of organisms to modify their environments, which is called ‘niche construction’. It also shows that complex organisms have evolved a set of information-gaining processes that are expressed in niche construction, and that the capacity for acquiring and transmitting memes is one such process. It then argues that, as many animals are capable of learning from others, they too can be said to have memes, and reports how animal protoculture might have evolved into human culture through meme-based niche construction. Moreover, it applies the evolutionary framework to illustrate that the success of a meme depends not just on its infectiousness, but also on the susceptibility of the host, and on the social environment. Furthermore, it provides an example from gene-culture coevolutionary theory to depict how a formal theory of memetics can be of value.
Robert Boyd and Peter J. Richerson
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192632449
- eISBN:
- 9780191670473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632449.003.0007
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter argues that memeticists have been far too fascinated with one of Darwin's conceptual advances: the identification of natural selection as the mechanism for cumulative adaptation. It also ...
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This chapter argues that memeticists have been far too fascinated with one of Darwin's conceptual advances: the identification of natural selection as the mechanism for cumulative adaptation. It also argues that population thinking is the key to conceptualizing culture in terms of material causes, and can play an important, constructive role in the human sciences. It is thought that Darwinian models of culture are useful for two reasons. First, they serve to connect the rich models of behavior based on individual action developed in economics, psychology, and evolutionary biology with the data and insights of the cultural sciences, anthropology, archaeology, and sociology. Second, population thinking is useful because it offers a way to build a mathematical theory of human behavior that captures the important role of culture in human affairs. The problem of human cooperation should be considered in order to know how useful population-based models can be. It is stated that memes are not a universal acid, but population thinking is a better mousetrap.Less
This chapter argues that memeticists have been far too fascinated with one of Darwin's conceptual advances: the identification of natural selection as the mechanism for cumulative adaptation. It also argues that population thinking is the key to conceptualizing culture in terms of material causes, and can play an important, constructive role in the human sciences. It is thought that Darwinian models of culture are useful for two reasons. First, they serve to connect the rich models of behavior based on individual action developed in economics, psychology, and evolutionary biology with the data and insights of the cultural sciences, anthropology, archaeology, and sociology. Second, population thinking is useful because it offers a way to build a mathematical theory of human behavior that captures the important role of culture in human affairs. The problem of human cooperation should be considered in order to know how useful population-based models can be. It is stated that memes are not a universal acid, but population thinking is a better mousetrap.
Adam Kuper
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192632449
- eISBN:
- 9780191670473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632449.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter illustrates that the target memetics is attempting to inform – culture – is itself incoherent. It also states that culture used to be linked with the aristocratic notion of ‘civilized ...
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This chapter illustrates that the target memetics is attempting to inform – culture – is itself incoherent. It also states that culture used to be linked with the aristocratic notion of ‘civilized taste’, but now commonly implies ‘shared beliefs’. It proposes that Dawkins' ideas about culture are a reversion to an earlier and happier time. Culture traits are not the equivalent of philosophical notions, and even when ideas are in question, their ecology is not made up only or even primarily by other ideas. The final objection to the whole memes industry is that it has yet to deliver a single original and plausible analysis of any cultural or social process.Less
This chapter illustrates that the target memetics is attempting to inform – culture – is itself incoherent. It also states that culture used to be linked with the aristocratic notion of ‘civilized taste’, but now commonly implies ‘shared beliefs’. It proposes that Dawkins' ideas about culture are a reversion to an earlier and happier time. Culture traits are not the equivalent of philosophical notions, and even when ideas are in question, their ecology is not made up only or even primarily by other ideas. The final objection to the whole memes industry is that it has yet to deliver a single original and plausible analysis of any cultural or social process.
Maurice Bloch
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192632449
- eISBN:
- 9780191670473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192632449.003.0010
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter tries to show what some of the failures in co-operation between natural and social scientists are, in order to illustrate why memes, as they are presented, will not do. However, it aims ...
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This chapter tries to show what some of the failures in co-operation between natural and social scientists are, in order to illustrate why memes, as they are presented, will not do. However, it aims to further the kind of dialogue initiated, or reinitiated by Dawkins, so that this type of general enterprise, will, at a future date, be more successful. It is shown that emphasizing the many dramatic implications of the fact that the evolution of the human brain has meant that information can replicate, persist and transform by means other than DNA, is very valuable. It also discusses at length the criticisms which American and British anthropologists have, in the past, directed against the theories of the memeticists' predecessors: the diffusionists. It also attempts to clear the decks for the very enterprise which Dawkins and Dennett propose.Less
This chapter tries to show what some of the failures in co-operation between natural and social scientists are, in order to illustrate why memes, as they are presented, will not do. However, it aims to further the kind of dialogue initiated, or reinitiated by Dawkins, so that this type of general enterprise, will, at a future date, be more successful. It is shown that emphasizing the many dramatic implications of the fact that the evolution of the human brain has meant that information can replicate, persist and transform by means other than DNA, is very valuable. It also discusses at length the criticisms which American and British anthropologists have, in the past, directed against the theories of the memeticists' predecessors: the diffusionists. It also attempts to clear the decks for the very enterprise which Dawkins and Dennett propose.
Alva Noë
- Published in print:
- 2022
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9780190928216
- eISBN:
- 9780197601136
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190928216.003.0044
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This chapter discusses memes, which are a lot like jokes. It is not the meme that is funny all by itself; it is the meme viewed against the background of a whole series of thematic variations. It is ...
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This chapter discusses memes, which are a lot like jokes. It is not the meme that is funny all by itself; it is the meme viewed against the background of a whole series of thematic variations. It is like this with knock-knock jokes too, or lightbulb jokes. Part of what makes the joke funny is the appreciation that it is a variation on a theme. The joke is at once a move inside a genre and a comment on it, and understanding the joke is really a sensitivity to a whole swath of shared life, background assumptions, images, self-images, and so on. This is just the same sort of ironic self-reference that we see everywhere we look in the history of art, in pop music, in pop culture such as television sitcoms, and, now, in novel form, in the internet meme. The chapter then looks at the addition of Pepe the Frog to the Anti-Defamation League's hate symbols list.Less
This chapter discusses memes, which are a lot like jokes. It is not the meme that is funny all by itself; it is the meme viewed against the background of a whole series of thematic variations. It is like this with knock-knock jokes too, or lightbulb jokes. Part of what makes the joke funny is the appreciation that it is a variation on a theme. The joke is at once a move inside a genre and a comment on it, and understanding the joke is really a sensitivity to a whole swath of shared life, background assumptions, images, self-images, and so on. This is just the same sort of ironic self-reference that we see everywhere we look in the history of art, in pop music, in pop culture such as television sitcoms, and, now, in novel form, in the internet meme. The chapter then looks at the addition of Pepe the Frog to the Anti-Defamation League's hate symbols list.
