2 replies on “Conor Cunningham: Did Darwin Kill God? Video Part 1”
I found Cunningham’s citation of our human ‘smaller than rice’ genome as a refutation of the ‘selfish/competitive gene’ theory troubling in that it promotes the ‘fuller genome bucket’ theory of adaptive superiority against the theory that organization and switching mechanisms within a smaller genome might more effectively be passed along for adaptive purposes. The normal diminution of neurons in the developing child’s brain is an example of this last point. And speaking of brains ‘memes’ need not carry absolute ‘truth’ value only that they have adaptive value as tested when we encounter the World. Sneaking the (discredited) Post Modern notion that all memes or ‘perspectives’ would be equal as a straw man was a low move.
Hugh — interesting comment. I don’t think Cunningham argues that all memes would be equal. What he argues is that the notion of “memes” is self-defeating because the notion of memes would itself be a meme — and therefore not something that necessarily has any truth value.
2 replies on “Conor Cunningham: Did Darwin Kill God? Video Part 1”
I found Cunningham’s citation of our human ‘smaller than rice’ genome as a refutation of the ‘selfish/competitive gene’ theory troubling in that it promotes the ‘fuller genome bucket’ theory of adaptive superiority against the theory that organization and switching mechanisms within a smaller genome might more effectively be passed along for adaptive purposes. The normal diminution of neurons in the developing child’s brain is an example of this last point. And speaking of brains ‘memes’ need not carry absolute ‘truth’ value only that they have adaptive value as tested when we encounter the World. Sneaking the (discredited) Post Modern notion that all memes or ‘perspectives’ would be equal as a straw man was a low move.
Hugh — interesting comment. I don’t think Cunningham argues that all memes would be equal. What he argues is that the notion of “memes” is self-defeating because the notion of memes would itself be a meme — and therefore not something that necessarily has any truth value.