I've occasionally been intrigued by memetics, but I don't think it's a scientifically testable theory. Hofhuis and Boudry's article on witch hunts doesn't change my mind. They conclude that witch hunts had no intelligent designer. Even if that's true, and I'm skeptical, how does it establish that memes themselves have interests that are different from those of the humans that the memes inhabit? How could one test whether any cultural phenomenon reflects the interests of human beings or the interests of autonomous memes? What empirical observation could disprove the memetic theory?
I don't think it's impossible in principle to test the theory. We'd just need to come up with convincing evidence of a meme spreading at the expense of those who adopt it - the situation that memetics alone predicts.
Sure, failure to find such evidence in any particular area wouldn't falsify the theory, because the theory doesn't predict that memes will always be bad for us. But it could still be a useful approach, and could still help to guide scientific research.
I actually think that a significant fraction of ideas or human creations that do not promote the survival of their hosts/users still have features that promote the survival of that idea/artifact. Consider Twinkies, Jihadism, high-carb diets, etc.
You're really taking off in 2025 - Steve ;-)! Kudos for all the work you put into your Substack while writing your book!
Thanks! Speaking of the book, I'm getting close to having a rough first draft...
I've occasionally been intrigued by memetics, but I don't think it's a scientifically testable theory. Hofhuis and Boudry's article on witch hunts doesn't change my mind. They conclude that witch hunts had no intelligent designer. Even if that's true, and I'm skeptical, how does it establish that memes themselves have interests that are different from those of the humans that the memes inhabit? How could one test whether any cultural phenomenon reflects the interests of human beings or the interests of autonomous memes? What empirical observation could disprove the memetic theory?
All reasonable questions.
I don't think it's impossible in principle to test the theory. We'd just need to come up with convincing evidence of a meme spreading at the expense of those who adopt it - the situation that memetics alone predicts.
Sure, failure to find such evidence in any particular area wouldn't falsify the theory, because the theory doesn't predict that memes will always be bad for us. But it could still be a useful approach, and could still help to guide scientific research.
I actually think that a significant fraction of ideas or human creations that do not promote the survival of their hosts/users still have features that promote the survival of that idea/artifact. Consider Twinkies, Jihadism, high-carb diets, etc.
Good examples - I agree!
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