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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 304.5 EAN: 9780192862129 ISBN: 019286212X Label: Oxford University Press, USA Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 288 Publication Date: May 16, 2000 Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA Studio: Oxford University Press, USA Editorial Review: Amazon.com: In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins proposed the concept of the meme as a unit of culture, spread by imitation. Now Dawkins himself says of Susan Blackmore: Showing greater courage and intellectual chutzpah than I have ever aspired to, she deploys her memetic forces in a brave--do not think foolhardy until you have read it--assault on the deepest questions of all: What is a self? What am I? Where am I? ... Any theory deserves to be given its best shot, and that is what Susan Blackmore has given the theory of the meme. Blackmore is a parapsychologist who rejects the paranormal, a skeptical investigator of near-death experiences, and a practitioner of Zen. Her explanation of the science of the meme (memetics) is rigorously Darwinian. Because she is a careful thinker (though by no means dull or conventional), the reader ends up with a good idea of what memetics explains well and what it doesn't, and with many ideas about how it can be tested--the very hallmark of an excellent science book. Blackmore's discussion of the "memeplexes" of religion and of the self are sure to be controversial, but she is (as Dawkins says) enormously honest and brave to make a connection between scientific ideas and how one should live one's life. --Mary Ellen Curtin Product Description: What is a meme? First coined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene, a meme is any idea, behavior, or skill that can be transferred from one person to another by imitation: stories, fashions, inventions, recipes, songs, ways of plowing a field or throwing a baseball or making a sculpture. The meme is also one of the most important--and controversial--concepts to emerge since The Origin of the Species appeared nearly 150 years ago. In The Meme Machine Susan Blackmore boldly asserts: "Just as the design of our bodies can be understood only in terms of natural selection, so the design of our minds can be understood only in terms of memetic selection." Indeed, Blackmore shows that once our distant ancestors acquired the crucial ability to imitate, a second kind of natural selection began, a survival of the fittest amongst competing ideas and behaviors. Ideas and behaviors that proved most adaptive--making tools, for example, or using language--survived and flourished, replicating themselves in as many minds as possible. These memes then passed themselves on from generation to generation by helping to ensure that the genes of those who acquired them also survived and reproduced. Applying this theory to many aspects of human life, Blackmore offers brilliant explanations for why we live in cities, why we talk so much, why we can't stop thinking, why we behave altruistically, how we choose our mates, and much more. With controversial implications for our religious beliefs, our free will, our very sense of "self," The Meme Machine offers a provocative theory everyone will soon be talking about. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Highly readible and informativeIf you're exploring an understanding of Memes, what they actually are with regard to idea communication and culture, I would start here - most readible and grounded explanation written...and the development of the Self-plex helps carry the conversation to its next level. Rating: - An Enlightening BookIt should be brought to attention that "The Meme Machine" was one of the earliest works espousing Dr. Dawkins' original theory. Mr. Anastasoff and other critics should bare this in mind. At that point in time, I'd conjecture that Prof. Blackmore's purpose was to EXPLAIN memetic concepts and terms, rather than prove them. She did a wonderful job. Many scientific concepts lie outside the realm of the scientific method. So what? Does that mean we can't speculate or theorize as to ... Read More Rating: - From the Oxford University Press EditorThe following elucidation of her text, copied from the back cover- does much to reveal the content of Dr. Blackmore's insightful and often controversial insights into the perspective of life from the view of memes. What it fails to portray are Dr. Blackmore's total reversal of every aspect of human life, viewed not from the everyday perspective, but from that of the self-replicating selfish "mental" gene, the Meme. Humans are extraordinary creatures, with the uniques ability to imitate, ... Read More Rating: - clear and interesting, but... I just finished the book and think it is a clear and interesting introduction on the subject. On the other hand I felt it was rushing into too many generalizations and the arguments on science vs. religion sounded quite empty. Rating: - An aid to understanding thought contagionBlakemore's book endeavors towards two goals: 1) A recapping of the origins of meme theory...which she does exceedingly well and 2) Humble suggestions on the place of memes in consciousness...where she seems to stumble. In relation to her first goal, Blakemore admirably retraces the work of the likes of Richard Dawkins and Dan Dennett. For his part, Dawkins coined the term "meme" in his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene" wherein he described meme as a process or idea ... Read More |
