"[The] evolution of memes [is] intrinsically much faster and more flexible than that of genes. During one human generation, which allows only one cycle of variation and selection of genes, there may be thousands of generations of meme evolution. Hence the frequently cited metaphor of the history of life on Earth, in which human civilisation occupies only the final second of the 'day' during which life has so far existed, is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of evolution. A substantial proportion of all evolution to date, perhaps even most of it, has occurred since the arrival of our species. It has occurred in our brains. The whole of biological evolution was but a preamble to the main story of evolution on our planet, the evolution of memes."
— David Deutsch
arjun / Arjun Khemani
npub179…ep48v
2023-12-23 16:46:45
Author Public Key
npub179esgzvcfqdukff5556r86hm34h2f3asu87xg4egxpr3leplca7syep48vPublished at
2023-12-23 16:46:45Event JSON
{
"id": "c058fa17e75dbfdd9947745025612e1b77be9ad87330907ecf3f5eddf6d6022e",
"pubkey": "f173040998481bcb2534a53433eafb8d6ea4c7b0e1fc64572830471fe43fc77d",
"created_at": 1703346405,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [],
"content": "\"[The] evolution of memes [is] intrinsically much faster and more flexible than that of genes. During one human generation, which allows only one cycle of variation and selection of genes, there may be thousands of generations of meme evolution. Hence the frequently cited metaphor of the history of life on Earth, in which human civilisation occupies only the final second of the 'day' during which life has so far existed, is based on a misunderstanding of the nature of evolution. A substantial proportion of all evolution to date, perhaps even most of it, has occurred since the arrival of our species. It has occurred in our brains. The whole of biological evolution was but a preamble to the main story of evolution on our planet, the evolution of memes.\"\n\n— David Deutsch",
"sig": "6e8aa20dd57070743d7fa35d6825c0aae53a4518fdeb636bb480442e9c3371e39c0941f0b037738220068c4e487f63c1cea1eb638bc202ca323f2005656edcc0"
}