This criticism isn't directed at creationists...they might fundamentally misconstrue the biological world, but they hang together and generally make out alright, as decent humans do.
We should be looking at the structure of our artificial environments, our industrial schedules, our cultural expectation that the mind function at all times like an inorganic machine. We evolved within a volatile and complex environment & if we ignore this, assuming the context we came out of doesn't matter, we will continue to label ourselves and ignore the cause and the simple solution.
Our minds and our bodies are in rebellion--the mass of humanity calls out for something more humane.
Will memeticists heed this cry? Will we respond by encouraging psychologists to re-work the DSM-V in light of humanity's evolutionary context (both genetic and memetic)? Will we stand up and push for change in our education structures or will we continue to aquiesce, drugging non-complacent children and stigmatizing creative resistance?
I ask this question of myself and other memeticists--because the social and cultural pressure is to create a discipline which fits comfortably into the current political paradigm. We are encouraged to eviscerate the religious memeplexes but leave the secular myths intact. Giving into this pressure, refusing to question our assumptions, will castrate memetics.
We have the ability to understand the memeplexes, to name them, to gain power over them, but this will only occur when we develop the courage to question our own deeply-held assumptions.
For further discussion on re-working psychology and social policy, check out the following:
Incarceration & Memetic Reproduction
Importing Memes and Madness
Hoarding
Non-Optimal Elder Care
Thanks for sharing. I hope it will be helpful for too many people that are searching for this topic. Keep posting and keep this forum a great place to learn things.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words. New posts & blog relaunch are coming January 1!
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