“Memes are clusters of
ideas and beliefs, which are supposed to compete with one another in much the
same way that genes do. In the life of the mind, as in biological evolution,
there is a kind of natural selection of memes, whereby the fittest memes survive.
Unfortunately, memes are not genes. There is no mechanism of selection in the
history of ideas akin to that of the natural selection of genetic mutations in
evolution.”
(John Gray 2002, Straw Dogs, p. 26)
“The prospects for
elaborating a rigorous science of memetics are doubtful, but the concept
provides a valuable perspective from which to investigate the complex
relationship between cultural and genetic heritage.”
(Daniel Dennett 1995, Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, p. 369)
“Memes have not yet
found their Watson and Crick; they even lack their Mendel.”
(Richard Dawkins in Susan Blackmore 1999, The Meme Machine, p. xii)
Dr. Watson, I presume?
“There certainly are memes to be found that form
parallels with the genes – memes that are at least 5000 years old, have continuously
been replicating, have essentially stayed identical, while transforming
according to strict laws. I indicate on Proto-Indo-European roots that all
contemporary Indo-European languages have in common with languages like the
ancient Indian, Iranian, Hittite, etc.
An example I do not randomly choose. When Dutch
people are new in a certain region [regio]
and ask for the right direction [richting]
in order to receive [uitgereikt krijgen]
rules [regels] and directives [directieven] to the straight [rechte] way to the government building [regeringsgebouw], they are being moved by
the Proto-Indo-European meme *reg-
that has been governing the language of the majority of the world’s population
for thousands of years. This root
underlies the word richting, but also
recht. The word recht that according to Benveniste refers to the act of drawing a
vertical line, shows a kinship to words like regel, regio regeren, rex.
The Latin word rex
finds in Asia its pedant in the Indian
word radjah. It is also related to the
Greek oregô, which means stretching [rekken] and straightening [strekken]. Therewith the vertical gets a
three-dimensional spaciousness. From here you can see that words like reaching
[reiken], stretching [rekken], series / range [reeks], ridge [richel],
calculation [rekenen] and correctness
[correctheid] have all sprung from this single meme.
The meme *reg-
has not only managed to multiply. It has nestled itself, as the organizer
of an extended phenotype, into the
organization of planet earth and set it to its hand. It forms the basis of
language as a means of transport. Notice the title of a work that has been
decisive for the way the world looks today. We think that Descartes is the author
of the Regulae ad directionem ingenii.
But the work has been written by *reg-: it hides both in the words regula and directio. This work refers to the idea
that man thinks he can become king (rex)
by accepting the rules that guide his innate understanding. This guidance is directed to the methodological straightening
of reality with an eye to the possibility of calculation. Calculation gives life
direction and provides the regulated organization of reality.
But: man is not the king of this, but the slave.” *
(Th.
C. W. Oudemans 2002, Eigen taal eerst,
pp. 7-8)
* Translated by Roel van Uden. The original Dutch text
can be found here:
http://www.oudemans.net/oudemans/eigentaal.pdf
http://www.oudemans.net/oudemans/eigentaal.pdf
