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The Meme Machine (Paperback)

by Susan Blackmore (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks; New edition edition (16 Mar 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 019286212X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0192862129
  • Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 67,312 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #11 in  Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Evolution > Education
    #23 in  Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Psychology & Psychiatry > Schools of Thought > Evolutionary Psychology
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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Habits, skills, songs, stories, ideas: humans are marvellously equipped to keep themselves and each other ceaselessly busy and it's as well, for no matter how hard we try, we humans just can't stop thinking. So, says Susan Blackmore, what if consciousness is not some esoteric genetic freebie but is itself the product of an altogether different evolutionary process?

Once humans learned to imitate each other--that is, receive, copy and retransmit "memes"--the rest, Blackmore argues, is a foregone and somewhat chilling conclusion: we are the product of our memes just as we are the products of our genes, the trouble being that memes, like genes, care only for their own propagation. The ability to imitate each other laid us open to ideas good and bad in equal measure. These proliferated in such numbers that individuals, competing to imitate the best imitators, needed bigger and bigger brains to contain the flood. Now our heads are so big, they are barely birthable.

Blackmore's brilliantly argued version of how humans became conscious--not to say downright troubled--demolishes some of the most intractable problems of human evolution and social biology, with flair. Hers is a book full of careful arguments and thrilling conjectures: riddled, in other words, with promising memes. --Simon Ings



Review

Anyone who hopes or fears that memetics will become a science of culture will find this surefooted exploration of the prospects a major eye-opener. (Daniel Dennett )

Any theory deserves to be given its best shot, and that is what Susan Blackmore has given the theory of the meme I am delighted to recommend her book. (Richard Dawkins )
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The meme machine unleashed!, 15 Sep 2002
By Simon Laub (Aarhus, Denmark, Europe) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Human bodies evolved by natural selection, just as other animals. But still we are different. According to Susan Blackmore thats because we are capable of imitation. We can thereby copy ideas, habits, inventions, songs and stories. I.e. memes. And now memes are as powerful, if not more powerful, than the good old genes, in directing human evolution. I find the idea intriguing, and certainly Susan Blackmore argue well for the idea. The (evolutionary) pressure for imitation skills requires big brains. So we evolve big brains, as people mate with the ones with the most memes. Language is invented in order to spread memes. Film stars, journalists, writers, singers, politicians and artists become the most attractive, as they are the ones who spread the most memes. Things that are hard to explain in a genetic context (such as adoption, birth control, celibacy) are easy to explain in a meme context (the memes are happy with it, as it help spread more memes). Science becomes a process to distinguish true memes from false memes. Fax-machines, telephones, etc. are created (by the memes) in order to spread more memes. Writing is a battleground in the head between memes wanting to be spread etc.

It all rings true to me. Except Susan Blackmores claim that the self is a complex meme. Certainly it is puzzling that blind people are reported thinking that Their "I" is located at their fingertips, when they read Braille. Still there are other explanations to what a human "I" is than memes. Personally, I prefer Antonio Damasios, as he explain edit in the book "the feeling of what happens". Nevertheless, Susan Blackmores book is a very exciting read, with lots of clever thoughts. Or should I say memes?

-Simon

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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The world is still waiting for "the book" on memes., 27 May 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Meme Machine (Hardcover)
Ever since Dawkins wrote his chapter on memes in The Selfish Gene, people have become captivated by the meme meme. Several people have attempted to wrap their minds around the concept, and present it in a useful and comprehensive way. While Blackmore's attempt is, I think, the best yet, it tries to do too much, and ends up collapsing under its own weight. Some of the assertions, such as the development of large brains in humans being a function of memes' imperative, while possibly correct in part, lose the force of their argument by their overstatement. Humans are thinking machines, not copying machines, and brains evolved to think. Memes ride along, for better or worse, on the waves created by the constant motion of our thoughts. Not the other way around. I believe memetics will someday prove to be a valuable tool for understanding some cultural and behavioural aspects of humans. But right now, they still more resemble Gould's "meaningless metaphor" description.
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21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Book of Common Sense, 21 Feb 2005
By Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Meme Machine (Hardcover)
It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the term 'meme' to surpass the lexicon of phrases previously used to convey cultural ideas. "Shibboleth" is, of course, too 'foreign' for the WASP mind to grasp intuitively. "Myth" is nice and brief, but again has been relegated to minor considerations. It's something 'pagan' or out of time. "Cultural icon" conjures up images of rock stars or charismatic politicians. "Meme" has the advantages of universality; it's easy to remember, and isn't carrying any prior cultural overtones. In an age of fast moving technologies, 'meme' is timely - after all, how many readers here haven't heard something about genetic research. It's only shortcoming is the hesitation one hears when others are trying to say it: is it 'meem' or 'meemee'. The former is correct, of course, but you might have to have read Dawkins first to pick up on that.

Alien abductions and Near Death Experiences as expressions of memeplexes, complex, irrational memes. In 'Religions As Memeplexes' Blackmore explains how memes modify the genetic mechanism for altruism among kin by extending benificence to those who are 'like us'. This give great strength to religious memes, extending their influence over disparate groups. Religious memes did not set out to be successful, they have no more ability to foresee the future than do genes. Religious memes flourish in a given environment, with group selection rising above selection of individuals. The link of memetics to genetics and the reinforcing feedback loop of their interaction is the basis for successful religions.

It's a useful exercise to read this book in company with Richard Brodie's VIRUS OF THE MIND. Where Blackmore takes Dawkins' idea and fleshes it out with additional background information, Brodie applies practical applications of how memes impact our lives, and what, if anything, the reader might wish to do about that.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Very valuable ideas in parts too much speculation in others
I feel quite ambivalent about the book. In parts I was introduced or reminded of some great concepts and ideas. In other it felt like there was too much speculation. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Roberto

1.0 out of 5 stars a metaphor run mad
The whole of meme theory just needs deleting from human discourse and this book proves it. It is the ultimate example of a metaphor run mad, of fetishism in the Marxist sense. Read more
Published 5 months ago by F. Roberts

2.0 out of 5 stars Simply Amazing!
It is simply amazing to me that someone could make a career out of peddling such pseudo-scientific guff as this. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. D. A. Littlewood

4.0 out of 5 stars Good first impression
I just started reading the book but it seems a good reference for a course I will start next week.
Published 8 months ago by Paulo C. Toledo Jr.

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrific book on a 'science' in decline
It is a shame that just as usage of the word 'meme' is becoming commonplace, the 'science' of Memetics is falling out of favour. Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2007 by Karel Bata

4.0 out of 5 stars Great theory, let's apply it.
I found this book both thought provoking and slightly disturbing. The arguments are well constructed and make perfect sense. Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2007 by Stephen Parry

5.0 out of 5 stars Dont read this if your depressed
Seriously, dont read this if your depressed, it will push you over the edge..wherever that may be. A friend of mine gave me this to read, thinking i would enjoy it, and so i read... Read more
Published on 1 Nov 2005

4.0 out of 5 stars Memes have a lot to answer for.
The concept and idea of memes is such a simple, but extraordinary idea, originally hatched by Dawkins. Read more
Published on 22 May 2004 by R. Britain

3.0 out of 5 stars great ideas - sloppy scholarship
This could have been a great book. As an average book, it contains many great ideas. The Foreword by Dawkins is nicely written, but unfortunately sets the bar a little high for... Read more
Published on 12 May 2003 by Booky Bookster

4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating theory carried to doubtful extremes.
Susan Blackmore's latest work provides the potential for making sense of many things which have long seemed to defy logic and understanding. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2000

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