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Lynch, Aaron Thought Contagion: When Ideas ACT Like Viruses
Basic Books December 1, 199 0-465-08467-2 / 9780465084678 Paperback As New
A meme, in the newly emerging discipline called memetics, is a self-propaga ting idea, a unit of cultural imitation that, much like a biological or com puter virus, effectively programs its own retransmission. Memes can percola te through society by motivating their "host population," or by reshuffling old ideas into novel configurations, or via human proselytizers. According to Lynch, formerly a Fermilab engineering physicist, a nuclear family meme set (combining ideas of sexual monogamy, long-term commitment and biparent al upbringing) ensures that the people whose mating behavior produces the m ost children will also personally raise those children. A crucifixion meme, he cautions, leaves Christianity vulnerable to exploitation by phony relig ious leaders who generate guilt-inspired contributions; the Yahweh god meme , spreading among the ancient Hebrews, fostered a unified moral code. Lynch also uses memes to explain current controversies over abortion and handgun s, men's breast fetishes, homophobia, diets that achieve temporary results and much else. Memetics is a radical science, modeled on genetics, that cut s against the grain of conventional and habitual thinking; Lynch does a fin e job of covering its pros and cons, exploring its range and making it acce ssible to nonexpert readers.
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850.00 JPY
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