1. Final Exam April 21, 22, 23 In Moodle test centre Same format and procedure as midterm Not cumulative Covers everything from Attention to today’s lecture

2. final exam review session 1pm on Friday in AH116

4. Memes Richard Dawkins

5. What is evolution? Evolution is “a process of continuous change”

6. What is evolution? Evolution is “a process of continuous change” Evolution is not the opposite of creationism You are free to consider the following discussion of memes without fear of eternal damnation

7. What is evolution? Evolution theory in a nutshell: – Kids look and act like their parents – Kids don’t look and act exactly like their parents – Some people have more kids than others

8. What is evolution? Evolution theory in a nutshell: – We are each a constellation of traits which reflects the set of genes we inherit from our parents – Traits (and the genes that underlie them) impart advantages and disadvantages – Genes are thus subject to “selection pressures” or “selective retention” which increase or decrease their prevalence in a “gene pool” – Random variation introduces novel genes and their associated traits into the gene pool

9. What is evolution? Evolution theory in a nutshell: – Random variation + selective retention = evolution

10. What is evolution? “Evolution” applies to all replicators…genes are just a one example

11. Memes Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

12. Memes Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales Can you read this? Could your parents or grandparents? Could their grandparents? What happened? Your genes are slightly different. Does that account for our different language? If not, what does?

13. Memes Language is an example of an aspect of human culture that evolves Dawkins’ thesis is that this evolution process can be considered in the same light as the evolution of genetic traits Memes are the heritable units of culture

14. Memes What are some examples of memes?

15. Memes What are some examples of memes? – Internet memes: Rickrolling – Religious memes: Thor, God of Thunder Son of Odin Has a hammer that can crush mountains Rides a chariot pulled by goats

16. Memes What are some examples of memes? fashion

17. Memes What are some examples of memes? music

18. Memes What are some examples of memes? music

19. Memes What are some examples of memes? music

20. Memes What are some examples of memes? – gestures

21. Memes How do memes replicate?

22. Memes How do memes replicate? – Imitation

23. Memes How big is a meme? – The “hook” of a pop song is a meme? – How many memes is an entire symphony?

24. Memes Why do memes die? Why do memes persist? – Some memes are more successful than others…why? – Competition: There is a finite number of memes that you pick up and use in your life Likewise finite quantity of TV and radio play etc.

25. Memes Some memes stay bundled together – They are mutually reinforcing – E.g. the fear of eternal damnation if you don’t believe in things like eternal damnation…

26. Memes Some memes cannot co-exist – they explicitly exclude other memes The meme that “blind faith” is good protects itself along with a huge complex of other religion memes

27. Memes Do memes and genes interact? – Consider that your parents are the primary source of your memes (at least early in life) Any memes they pass to you may help you reproduce these will allow you to pass those memes to your kids And so on – Consider memes about celibacy or birth control!

28. Memes Perhaps this makes you uneasy about your own memes… – Why do you hold true the set of beliefs that define you? Are they accurate? Does it matter? – There’s nothing wrong with questioning your own memes! Try some other memes! See how they fit with your own. Ask a stranger to share memes with you.