Evolution and Literature Web Paper 2

                                                 

                          (Hilazon Cave)

 

  “Changing the Story”:
Using Memes for Social Change

           
 

The Andy Warhol of Marilyn Monroe. “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” by Journey. Campbell’s Soup. We all know what “LOL” stands for, and we can recite the basic plot of a Grimm’s Fairy Tale or two.

        How easily our minds can be changed when presented with certain evidence. Last month I wrote my first paper for the class The Story of Evolution and the Evolution of Stories, arguing for freedom, choice, and control over one’s life. However, I have come to see the limit of this argument, especially when faced with the influential control culture has on individuals. A classmate’s idea intrigued me when he wrote, “in a way, we have been programmed by these influences [of culture] to act and behave a certain way whether or not we like to admit it” (ib4walrus, 2/20/2011).

A Journey Through Cultures: Becoming Fit in American Society

A certain type of evolution is notable through an immigrant’s arrival to the United States, in which there is an evident transition from their ethnic ties to that of American ways. This can be seen as a form of cultural evolution, whose permanent results can be seen over the spread of various generations. It is interesting to note the external factors that cause this change to occur; that which makes an individual believe they must detach from their old customs and take up new ones. This cultural evolution truly becomes a matter of survival of the fittest in American society today.
   

Normal 0

Daniel Dennett's book Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life discusses, in great detail, the ramifications of Darwin's theory of evolution on human life and meaning.  While looking over portions of the book again, I found myself wondering more about some of Dennett's ideas and other species of animals.  On page 369, Dennett writes: "The invasion of human brains by culture, in the form of memes, has created human minds, which alone among animals minds can conceive of things distant and future, and formulate alternative goals." (1)  What interests me here is his complete dismissal of other animals as thinking or having culture.  While Dennett certainly makes great, strong points about human culture, even if I do not necessarily agree with him, he jumps stra