I Thought I Was Joking
In my previous post, I asked the tongue-in-cheek question, "Is Memetics the New Scientology?" I thought I was joking. Really, I did. So, this makes what I discovered rather eery and bizarre. I've been reading a lot about memetics in part because I expect to include information on it in my book, as part of a possible chapter on the distortion of science. Then, I found this, The Church of Virus. Now, I'm frightened.
posted by Melinda at
9:22 PM
4 Comments:
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Didn't Dawkins originally use "meme" as a kind of metaphor? He should have known better.
Psychohistory shows us how easily ideas sweep the proles and are distorted out of all recognition. How about a little sympathy for the many scholars who can't find a niche in overcrowded fields of inquiry? Memetics offers them a wide range of new topics for development and for scholarly debate by the similarly deprived. We must allow pseudo-intellectuals their due, mustn't we? After all, one person's opinion is just as good as another.
That's what I'm looking into: how did "meme" start and how did it turn into a new field of pseudoscience? As far as I know so far, Dawkins meant "memes" to be taken seriously from the beginning, but first proferred the idea in a very fuzzy, abstract form. What troubles me is that his theories on religion and culture, based solely on this pseudoscience and ignoring the findings of the established social sciences, are misleading so many. Apparently his ideas are even more popular in the UK than they are here. Where does this lead? A new religion? Or will it, as a popular and influential pseudoscience, have the deleterious effects on society that other popular, influential pseudosciences--like eugenics and social darwinism--have had?
Reason,
My understanding was that Dawkins takes memes quite seriously, to the point that he's argued that we can now ignore genetic/evolutionary interpretations of human culture for memetic interpretations. I think the quote is something like: once genes provide a functioning brain capable of ideas, memes take over. I'm a bit too tired and ill to look up the exact quote right now. I'll go into this later, after I've had a chance to do a bit more research.
From what I understand, the "selfish gene" was a metaphor taken out of context, but "meme" was an idea intended seriously but only presented in a fuzzy, abstract form at first.
The comparison to scientology was originally a joke, an intentional exaggeration. As for the Church of the Virus, I've been trying to find out if it is indeed a joke or meant to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, my ill health has stopped my research for the moment. For now, I'm hoping you're right. I would be quite relieved to issue a correction on this matter.
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