Susan Blackmore On Memes

In this video from TED, Susan Blackmore talks about memetics, the theory of memes – and how we should see that memes and genes ensured our survival and evolution. She says that we should think that we are passing on ideas through mimicry – and this mimicry or these memes use us as meme machines. She says that all other species are gene machines, we are gene and meme machines. As soon as our ancestors started imitating there was war – genes that wanted to keep the brain economical and function orientated and memes that wanted to get bigger brains that could copy memes further (memetic drive). That explains how we’ve ended up with such “peculiar brains” she says.

Towards the end she talks about a new meme – the technology meme or teme and that’s when it gets a little bonkers…. worth a watch.

TED
Susan Blackmore