Thought Contagion: How Belief Spreads Through Society [Anglais] [Broché]

Why do certain ideas become popular? The naive view is that it's because they're true, or at least justified. This fascinating book, influenced by evolutionary biology and epidemiology, is the first full-scale examination of some of the other reasons. Consider Aaron Lynch's example of optimism--it may not be true or warranted, but it tends to prevail because optimists tend to have more children to pass along their outlook to. Sometimes, Lynch points out, there is a paradoxical but predictable expansion-contraction pattern to the social spread of ideas. If nothing else, lobbyists need to look into this stuff to see which side their bread is really buttered on. Warning: this book is densely written. But it's worth the wade. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

A meme, in the newly emerging discipline called memetics, is a self-propagating idea, a unit of cultural imitation that, much like a biological or computer virus, effectively programs its own retransmission. Memes can percolate 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 biparental upbringing) ensures that the people whose mating behavior produces the most children will also personally raise those children. A crucifixion meme, he cautions, leaves Christianity vulnerable to exploitation by phony religious 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 handguns, men's breast fetishes, homophobia, diets that achieve temporary results and much else. Memetics is a radical science, modeled on genetics, that cuts against the grain of conventional and habitual thinking; Lynch does a fine job of covering its pros and cons, exploring its range and making it accessible to nonexpert readers.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

A meme, in the newly emerging discipline called memetics, is a self-propagating idea, a unit of cultural imitation that, much like a biological or computer virus, effectively programs its own retransmission. Memes can percolate 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 biparental upbringing) ensures that the people whose mating behavior produces the most children will also personally raise those children. A crucifixion meme, he cautions, leaves Christianity vulnerable to exploitation by phony religious 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 handguns, men's breast fetishes, homophobia, diets that achieve temporary results and much else. Memetics is a radical science, modeled on genetics, that cuts against the grain of conventional and habitual thinking; Lynch does a fine job of covering its pros and cons, exploring its range and making it accessible to nonexpert readers. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Examines the new science of the "meme," the identifiable unit of cultural imitation that becomes important through its ability to self-replicate, and argues that some popular beliefs spread like contagion. 20,000 first printing. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

"One of the most important new ideas of our times is that of 'memes'- the vision of ideas as autonomous entities, leaping from brain to brain in much the same way as viruses leap from body to body, spreading and replicating and 'infecting' the population of 'hosts.' This catchy metaphor has become increasingly powerful and deep, and Aaron Lynch's book is in the vanguard of efforts to clarify it and make it vivid for lay audiences. The very meme of 'memes' is thus taking hold and spreading through the human ideosphere, and it is my hope that Thought Contagion will be a primary vector in this global epidemic. Luckily for us potential hosts, it is both benign and fascinating."- DOUGLAS HOFSTADTER, author of Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies, Metamagical Themas, and Godel, Escher, Bach

"When I get down to writing 'The Selfish Meme,' Aaron Lynch's admirable Thought Contagion will undoubtedly be a prime source-book for intriguing examples and penetrating analyses." -RICHARD DAWKINS, author of River out of Eden and The Selfish Gene --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

...All "girlishly helpless" behaviors mimic somewhat the intrinsic "personality" of any young child (boy or girl). Young children have less mental aptitude, cannot pay bills, take little responsibility for contact with others or mutual transportation, behave whimsically, are deemed "innocent" by adults, and are preferred to relate deferentially to adults. Therefore, a woman who projects a "helpless" image toward a man tests his reaction to a child--without needing any conscious or subconscious plan. If the man accepts this childlike, innocent helplessness and responds with "manly responsibility," he shows more promise for acting that way as a father with real children. He also shows promise for supporting a wife slowed down by pregnancy or nursing. In short, he makes a more plausible family man. The "girlish helplessness" meme acts as a "family man finder" for its female host, thereby explaining its replication advantage. Whether a woman deliberately seeks a family man or not, mating with one usually boosts her reproductive career. This of course gets her meme imitated by more young girls than happens with a "womanly responsibility" role. The "helpless" meme thus enjoys a gender-linked version of parental propagation. This meme acts blindly, in that it has no built-in sensitivity to what individual women want, and presumes no uniform desire for children among its hosts. Thus, blindly, it finds family men even for women who plan to remain childless. This in turn helps some of them change their minds later and have children, ultimately passing down more copies of the "girlish helplessness" meme... --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.