Richard Dawkins Memes

Richard Dawkins idea of a meme was not created to explain religion. It was an idea that spread within a group of individuals. A meme is the cultural equivalent of a gene, hence the similar name, and it was meant to describe the way ideas are created and propagated throughout society. Ideas replicate themselves just like genes; that was the idea. He did use the religion or God as examples of successful memes, but the idea was much more than simply attacking religion. Dawkins wasn't as much an advocate against religion then as he is now, and his early contributions were very beneficial to the development of modern biology. Dawkins didn't invent viral, changing ideas, he came up with a pop-term for it to sell books. It explains nothing we didn't
The collection is talking about the traits of a group rather than of components of the group; I think group selection can be a more useful framework. The thought the genes are people and people are selfish therefore genes must be selfish. The will to survive is strong in every living organism. So, it’s no surprise that people are selfish, why would they not be selfish, it’s an irrelevant statement. Another question that critics ask is why would one want to have their gene passed on to off spring? I love being able to recognize physical and personality traits that my son shares with me and other people in my family. It's fascinating and wonderful, but actually it's just a cool novelty compared to the joy of interacting with him, teaching him and watching him grow and develop new abilities. I'd say it's a source of much joy, but hardly a necessity. There's a pride angle too, but I think that might work both ways. I get a huge ego boost when I take him out in public because he's an unusually good looking kid, and people go a love to love on