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Quote by Susan Blackmore

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The Meme Machine

This book delves into the idea that memes, similar to genes, are replicators that spread and evolve within human societies. It examines how memes influence human behavior, beliefs, and culture, and discusses their role in shaping human history and development. more

Author

Susan Blackmore
Susan Blackmore

Susan Blackmore is a British writer and cognitive scientist known for her in-depth research into consciousness, death, and parapsychology. Her work explores the nature of human consciousness and how we understand death and life. more

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“I shall borrow two words used for a slightly different purpose by the great demographer Alfred Lotka to distinguish between the two systems of heredity enjoyed by man: endosomatic or internal heredity for the ordinary or genetical heredity we have in common with animals; and exosomatic or external heredity for the non-genetic heredity that is peculiarly our own - the heredity that is mediated through tradition, by which I mean the transfer of information through non-genetic channels from one generation to the next.”

MenMeanTwoDifferentUsedPurposeNextAnimalCommonGenerationsInformationOrdinaryTraditionEnjoyedInternalsTransfersHeredity
Book:The Threat and the Glory: Reflections on Science and Scientists
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“We have seen that in certain respects operant reinforcement resembles the natural selection of evolutionary theory. Just as genetic characteristics which arise as mutations are selected or discarded by their consequences, so novel forms of behavior are selected or discarded through reinforcement.”

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Book:Science And Human Behavior
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“The evolution of cultures appears to follow the pattern of the evolution of species. The many different forms of culture which arise correspond to the "mutations" of genetic theory. Some forms prove to be effective under prevailing circumstances and others not, and the perpetuation of the culture is determined accordingly.”

DifferentFormCultureTheoryEvolutionCircumstancesProveSpeciesPatternsDeterminedArisePrevailingMutation
Book:Science And Human Behavior
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