Memes
Are ideas like genes? Do they have an evolutionary progress? Where those that are reinforced, multiply and grow and those that aren't popular, die and aren't passed on (is Google the head of the meme filter mechanism?)? If memes are real, then are there some people who are more likely to be caught up with/in a meme? That is are some people more inclined to meme adoption then others (first adopters as it were?)? And are some people very resistant to adopting memes? If so, what makes it so?
Memes, Dawkins explained, move through imitation and they compete for attention. When a meme gets a lot of attention, it gets adopted whether it's a "good" meme or a "bad" meme. But if some people are more susceptible to adopting repetitive memes and some channels more likely to repeat memes over and over again, then it seems that these groups will have a meme advantage. Their ideas will be more likely to spread (like gun control, perhaps?).
Once a meme is adopted, why is it so difficult to dislodge? We can think of memes that have been dislodged--rejection of gay marriage is in the process of being dislodged. The notion that all people are not created equal has been (largely) dislodged in theory if not in practice. So what is the process that changes memes? Large scale resistance?
Some memes are beneficial and others destructive.
Again, if we think about Spinoza and his idea that we adopt truths before we actually learn about them, then do we also adopt memes before we have made a decision about how beneficial or accurate they are?
Memes, Dawkins explained, move through imitation and they compete for attention. When a meme gets a lot of attention, it gets adopted whether it's a "good" meme or a "bad" meme. But if some people are more susceptible to adopting repetitive memes and some channels more likely to repeat memes over and over again, then it seems that these groups will have a meme advantage. Their ideas will be more likely to spread (like gun control, perhaps?).
Once a meme is adopted, why is it so difficult to dislodge? We can think of memes that have been dislodged--rejection of gay marriage is in the process of being dislodged. The notion that all people are not created equal has been (largely) dislodged in theory if not in practice. So what is the process that changes memes? Large scale resistance?
Some memes are beneficial and others destructive.
Again, if we think about Spinoza and his idea that we adopt truths before we actually learn about them, then do we also adopt memes before we have made a decision about how beneficial or accurate they are?
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