War, Memes and Memeplexes
Item
Title
War, Memes and Memeplexes
International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944-)
Creator
Christopher Coker
Abstract
Meme theory has been attracting much attention in recent years. Pioneered by Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett it suggests that there are self-replicating units of culture analogous to genes. Like genes these 'memes' seek to copy themselves as widely as possible. One of them may be war. Memetics remains in its infancy but the truly sobering aspect is that 'fitness of purpose' for a meme may have little to do with the biological fitness of the people who are 'programmed' by it; it simply evolves because it is advantageous for itself. Memes also persist because they flourish in the presence of other memes (such as religion) in what Dawkins calls 'memeplexes'. One of the most persistent memes is honour, and another is revenge for dishonour imagined or real. War is a powerful medium for both. Even if meme theory never catches on it encourages us to think about war more creatively.
volume
84
issue
5
pages
903-914
Date
2008
Language
EN English
issn
0020-5850