Meme Selection

Meme Selection

What kind of selection applies to memes? According to my scheme, there are two kinds of selection: intentional and nomological.[1]  Suppose the meme is a jingle: if it takes up residence in your mind, is that an intentional act? Not generally, since jingles usually repeat themselves against your will. You don’t choose to have a jingle running through your head all day. Maybe someone intended to put it there, but its ability to stick around is not a result of the recipient’s intentions. So, the selection must be of the nomological type—the jingle must gain a foothold in virtue of laws of nature (plus initial conditions). What are these laws? They are not physical laws, presumably, so they must be psychological laws. The relevant law might be this: catchy tunes tend to be remembered and rehearsed. The jingle acquires meme status in virtue of that law. Other laws of meme propagation might be more complex (consider fashions). There are psychological laws governing gene propagation and these are the selective agents in bestowing meme status (meme “survival”). Thus, meme selection is a case of nomological selection. This is a form of “natural” selection. So, meme selection belongs with body selection, as conceived by Darwin. This seems like a nice result. Stars, organisms, and memes all exist because of nomological selection—unlike selective breeding, works of art, machines, political systems, etc. Intentions and laws cover the whole field.[2]

[1] See my “The Selective Universe”.

[2] We now have a useful structure for the subject of selection science (including philosophy). This is the general theory as opposed to the special theory represented by animal breeding and Darwinian natural selection.