Basic Books will soon publish THOUGHT CONTAGION, the first book
entirely on memetic evolution endorsed by Richard Dawkins. It is
scheduled for release in September 1996, Since the Memesis Symposium
is happening, I, have placed Chapter 1, "Self-Sent Messages and Mass
Belief" on the web at http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/tc1.html in advance. I
also have a more technical piece called UNITS AND EVENTS OF REPLICATION
at http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/thoughtcontagion.html which you may want
to post as well. (Attepts to post to memesis and open-memesis failed.)
--Aaron Lynch
ENDORSEMENTS
"One of the most important new ideas of our times is that of "memes"
--the vision of ideas as autonomous entities, leaping from brain to
brain in much the way that viruses leap from body to body, spreading
and replicating and "infecting" the population of "hosts". This
catchy metaphor has become increasingly powerful and deep, and Aaron
Lynch's book is in the vanguard of efforts to clarify it and make it
vivid for lay audiences. The very meme of "memes" is thus taking hold
and spreading through the human ideosphere, and it is my hope that
"Thought Contagion" will be a primary vector in this global epidemic.
Luckily for us potential hosts, it is both benign and fascinating."
--Douglas R. Hofstadter
"When I get down to writing THE SELFISH MEME, Aaron Lynch's admirable
THOUGHT CONTAGION will undoubtedly be a prime source book for intriguing
examples and penetrating analyses."
--Richard Dawkins
THOUGHT CONTAGION
How Belief Spreads Through Society
The New Science of Memes
DETAILED CONTENTS
Self-Sent Messages and Mass Belief ....................... 1
The Self-Propagating Idea ........................... 2
Modes of Thought Contagion .......................... 3
The Quantity of Parenthood .......................... 3
The Efficiency of Parenthood ........................ 4
Proselytizing Pays .................................. 5
Preserving Belief ................................... 6
Sabotaging the Competition .......................... 7
Cognitive Advantage ................................. 7
Motivational Advantage .............................. 8
The Epidemiology of Ideas ........................... 9
Forming New Ideas .................................. 10
Recombining Ideas .................................. 11
Memetic Evolution .................................. 12
A World of Barriers ................................ 12
A Missing Link: Memetics and the Social Sciences ........ 17
Memetics and Economics ............................. 18
Memetics and Sociology ............................. 22
Memetics and Cultural Anthropology ................. 24
Memetics and Sociobiology .......................... 27
Evolutionary Psychology ............................ 28
Memes and Politics ................................. 30
Cooperation Game Theory ............................ 31
Memetics and Communication Science ................. 32
Folklore as Thought Contagion ...................... 33
Memes in Cognitive Science and Philosophy of Mind .. 34
Memetic History .................................... 37
Memetics and Psychohistory ......................... 38
Family Plans: Ideas that Win with Children .............. 41
The Family Option .................................. 42
Love for Children .................................. 43
Non-Nuclear Family Structures ...................... 44
Monogamy and the Nuclear Family .................... 44
Marriage ........................................... 47
Polygamous Marriage ................................ 49
Nuclear Family Wealth .............................. 50
Family Homes ....................................... 51
Single Parenthood .................................. 52
Gender Roles ....................................... 53
Baby Dolls for Girls and Hero Dolls for Boys ....... 56
Women Employed ..................................... 58
Chores ............................................. 60
Responsibility and Helplessness .................... 61
Male Dominance and Female Subservience ............. 66
Patrilineal Names .................................. 67
Patrilineal Inheritance ............................ 68
Revising the Roles ................................. 70
Symbiotic Memes .................................... 70
Optimism ........................................... 71
Sexually Transmitted Belief:
The Clash of Freedom and Restriction .................... 73
Extramarital Sex ................................... 74
Chastity ........................................... 74
Promiscuity ........................................ 77
Homosexuality ...................................... 79
Gay Gender Differences ............................. 84
Breast Fetishes .................................... 85
Fat and Thin ....................................... 86
Mating by Class .................................... 88
Sex, Age, and Class Rebellion ...................... 89
Masturbation ....................................... 90
Birth Control ...................................... 91
How to Do It ....................................... 93
Sex Talk ........................................... 93
Consummation ....................................... 95
Successful Cults: Western Religion by Natural Selection 97
Ancestor Worship ................................... 97
Multiple Gods, Single Gods ......................... 98
Judaism ............................................ 99
Populating the Chosen ......................... 99
Moral Commandments ........................... 102
Sacred Marriage .............................. 102
Other Morals ................................. 103
Dietary Laws ................................. 104
Faith, Devotion, Collective Punishment,
and Scripture ................................ 105
Christianity ...................................... 107
Apocalypse and Rapture ....................... 109
Crucifixion .................................. 110
Resurrection ................................. 112
Evil Apostasy ................................ 113
Inter-faith Marriage Taboos .................. 114
Roman Catholic Europe ........................ 116
Reformation and Revival ...................... 117
Scriptural Proselytism ....................... 118
Instant Rewards .............................. 119
Easy Versus Hard Salvation ................... 119
Symbolic Expressions ......................... 120
Growth Wins Attention ........................ 121
Denomination and Class ....................... 122
Religion and the Sexes ....................... 124
Islam ............................................. 126
Jihad ........................................ 127
Polygyny and Ample Brotherhood ............... 128
Mormonism ......................................... 129
Hutterites ........................................ 130
Jehovah's Witnesses ............................... 131
Shakers ........................................... 132
Religion and Science Revisited .................... 132
Prescription Beliefs: Thought Contagions and Health .... 135
Circumcision ...................................... 136
Bottle Feeding .................................... 137
Diets ............................................. 138
Freudian Psychoanalysis ........................... 139
Astrology ......................................... 140
Memes and AIDS .................................... 142
Contagious Cures .................................. 146
Exercise and Sport ................................ 148
Street Gangs ...................................... 148
Drug Abuse ........................................ 150
Smart Pills ....................................... 151
Memetic Clones .................................... 154
A Germ Theory of Ideas ............................ 155
Controversy: Thought Contagions in Conflict ............ 157
Controversial Radio ............................... 158
Firearms .......................................... 161
Abortion .......................................... 163
Abortion, Contraception, and Language Barriers .... 168
Jingoism and Pacifism ............................. 169
Conclusion ........................................ 173
Epilogue: Thought Contagions of Thought Contagion ...... 175
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 179
INDEX .................................................. 183