The Dynamics of Cultural Evolution

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Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031048636
Total Pages : 207 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (31 download)

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Book Synopsis The Dynamics of Cultural Evolution by : Michael Rosenberg

Download or read book The Dynamics of Cultural Evolution written by Michael Rosenberg and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-07-09 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the nature of cultural and culturally structured social and behavioral entities, their evolutionary interactions, and the central role purposive behaviors play in those interactions. It, first, makes the case for cultural and cultural structured systems being considered as true entities bounded in time and space, and not ephemera in a constant state of becoming another system. Second, it examines how these entities interact to produce evolutionary culture change. It then argues that the intent of purposive behaviors is reliably knowable in the aggregate, at least when dealing with expressions of behavioral tendencies in the animal kingdom, humans included. Finally, the book references well documented behavioral tendencies for examples of proximate causation in the evolution of settled village societies and, following that, socially complex societies. Through these efforts, the book synthesizes the various approaches to the evolution of culture and provides a complete and comprehensive picture of the process. It provides a corrective to the tendency to view cultural systems as entirely open ended and as capable of changing in any direction; and also to treating cultural evolution as solely a result of selective forces, that is, in terms of only ultimate causation. This book provides an engaging and critical counterview to established theories of cultural evolution and is of interest to scholars and students of different disciplines, from anthropology and archeology, to evolutionary biology and epigenetics.

Semiotic Evolution and the Dynamics of Culture

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Author :
Publisher : Peter Lang
ISBN 13 : 9783039103942
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (39 download)

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Book Synopsis Semiotic Evolution and the Dynamics of Culture by : Marcel Bax

Download or read book Semiotic Evolution and the Dynamics of Culture written by Marcel Bax and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2004 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about patterns of development in the history of culture. Bringing together three areas of research: semiotics, cultural history, and evolutionary psychology, it attempts to bridge the gap that still separates the study of culture from the cognitive sciences. The multidisciplinary approach chosen by the contributors derives its impetus from the deep conviction that in order to understand the logic of cultural development, one must take the building blocks of culture, that is, signs and language, as a starting point for research. Central issues related to patterns of cultural evolution are dealt with in contributions on the development of mind and culture, the history of the media, the diversity of sign systems, culture and code, and the dynamics of semiosis. Theoretically oriented contributions alternate with in-depth case studies on such diverging topics as the evolution of language and art in prehistory, ritual as the fountainhead of indirect communication, developments in renaissance painting, the evolution of classification systems in chemistry, changing attitudes toward animal consciousness, and developments in computer technology.

Dynamics of Culture

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1315512157
Total Pages : 417 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (155 download)

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Book Synopsis Dynamics of Culture by : J. Zvi Namenwirth

Download or read book Dynamics of Culture written by J. Zvi Namenwirth and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-10-04 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, first published in 1987, is a landmark contribution to macrosociology that extends the tradition of Sorokin, Durkheim, Marx, Weber and other founders of the discipline in new and exciting directions. Using their innovative content analysis methodology to examine American and British political documents, the authors show that the long-term dynamics of culture are subject to their own laws and are independent of the actions of 'great men' and other individual actors. This comprehensive volume brings together over two decades of the authors' research on culture indicators. Key findings include the identification of two long-term cultural cycles in the United States and Great Britain: one is related to party realignments, the other to long-term economic fluctuations. In addition, the authors demonstrate how culture provides the themes that political parties use to interpret economic conditions in their appeal for votes. Other results show that organizational cultures move in opposite directions from those in the culture of the larger society. The book also includes detailed discussions of both the methodology used to analyse text content and related metatheoretical issues in the study of cultural dynamics.

Cultural Evolution

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000523276
Total Pages : 235 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (5 download)

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Book Synopsis Cultural Evolution by : Kevin McCaffree

Download or read book Cultural Evolution written by Kevin McCaffree and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2022-03-14 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the dawn of social science, theorists have debated how and why societies appear to change, develop and evolve. Today, this question is pursued by scholars across many different disciplines and our understanding of these dynamics has grown markedly. Yet, there remain important areas of disagreement and debate: what is the difference between societal change, development and evolution? What specific aspects of cultures change, develop or evolve and why? Do societies change, develop or evolve in particular ways, perhaps according to cycles, or stages or in response to survival necessities? How do different disciplines—from sociology to anthropology to psychology and economics—approach these questions? This book provides complex and nuanced answers to these, and many other, questions. First, the book invites readers to consider the broad landscape of societal dynamics across human history, beginning with humanity’s origins in small nomadic bands of hunter gatherers through to the emergence of post-industrial democracies. Then, the book provides a tour of several prominent existing theories of cultural change, development and evolution. Approaches to explaining cultural dynamics will be discussed across disciplines and schools of thought, from "meme" theories to established cumulative cultural evolutionary theories to newly emerging theories on cultural tightness-looseness. The book concludes with a call for theoretical integration and a frank discussion of some of the most unexamined structures that drive cultural dynamics across schools of thought.

Beyond the Meme

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Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
ISBN 13 : 145296162X
Total Pages : 421 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (529 download)

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Book Synopsis Beyond the Meme by : Alan C. Love

Download or read book Beyond the Meme written by Alan C. Love and published by U of Minnesota Press. This book was released on 2019-09-03 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Interdisciplinary perspectives on cultural evolution that reject meme theory in favor of a complex understanding of dynamic change over time How do cultures change? In recent decades, the concept of the meme, posited as a basic unit of culture analogous to the gene, has been central to debates about cultural transformation. Despite the appeal of meme theory, its simplification of complex interactions and other inadequacies as an explanatory framework raise more questions about cultural evolution than it answers. In Beyond the Meme, William C. Wimsatt and Alan C. Love assemble interdisciplinary perspectives on cultural evolution, providing a nuanced understanding of it as a process in which dynamic structures interact on different scales of size and time. By focusing on the full range of evolutionary processes across distinct contexts, from rice farming to scientific reasoning, this volume demonstrates how a thick understanding of change in culture emerges from multiple disciplinary vantage points, each of which is required to understand cultural evolution in all its complexity. The editors provide an extensive introductory essay to contextualize the volume, and Wimsatt contributes a separate chapter that systematically organizes the conceptual geography of cultural processes and phenomena. Any adequate account of the transmission, elaboration, and evolution of culture must, this volume argues, recognize the central roles that cognitive and social development play in cultural change and the complex interplay of technological, organizational, and institutional structures needed to enable and coordinate these processes. Contributors: Marshall Abrams, U of Alabama at Birmingham; Claes Andersson, Chalmers U of Technology; Mark A. Bedau, Reed College; James A. Evans, U of Chicago; Jacob G. Foster, U of California, Los Angeles; Michel Janssen, U of Minnesota; Sabina Leonelli, U of Exeter; Massimo Maiocchi, U of Chicago; Joseph D. Martin, U of Cambridge; Salikoko S. Mufwene, U of Chicago; Nancy J. Nersessian, Georgia Institute of Technology and Harvard U; Paul E. Smaldino, U of California, Merced; Anton Törnberg, U of Gothenburg; Petter Törnberg, U of Amsterdam; Gilbert B. Tostevin, U of Minnesota.

Cultural Dynamics

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 300 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (43 download)

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Book Synopsis Cultural Dynamics by : Melville Jean Herskovits

Download or read book Cultural Dynamics written by Melville Jean Herskovits and published by . This book was released on 1964 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Evolution of Cultural Entities

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780197262627
Total Pages : 252 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (626 download)

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Book Synopsis The Evolution of Cultural Entities by : Michael Wheeler

Download or read book The Evolution of Cultural Entities written by Michael Wheeler and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever since Darwin, scholars have noted that cultural entities such as languages, laws and theories seem to evolve through variation, selection and replication. These essays consider whether this comparison is just a metaphor.

The Origin and Evolution of Cultures

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0195165241
Total Pages : 466 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (951 download)

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Book Synopsis The Origin and Evolution of Cultures by : Robert Boyd

Download or read book The Origin and Evolution of Cultures written by Robert Boyd and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005-01-20 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Origin and Evolution of Cultures presents articles based on two notions. That culture is crucial for understanding human behaviour; and that culture is part of biology. Interest in this collection will span anthropology, psychology, economics, philosophy, and political science.

Culture and the Evolutionary Process

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226069338
Total Pages : 339 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (26 download)

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Book Synopsis Culture and the Evolutionary Process by : Robert Boyd

Download or read book Culture and the Evolutionary Process written by Robert Boyd and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1988-06-15 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do biological, psychological, sociological, and cultural factors combine to change societies over the long run? Boyd and Richerson explore how genetic and cultural factors interact, under the influence of evolutionary forces, to produce the diversity we see in human cultures. Using methods developed by population biologists, they propose a theory of cultural evolution that is an original and fair-minded alternative to the sociobiology debate.

Coevolution

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Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780804721561
Total Pages : 658 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (215 download)

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Book Synopsis Coevolution by : William H. Durham

Download or read book Coevolution written by William H. Durham and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 658 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Darwin's "On the Origins of Species" had two principal goals: to show that species had not been separately created and to show that natural selection had been the main force behind their proliferation and descent from common ancestors. In "Coevolution," the author proposes a powerful new theory of cultural evolution--that is, of the descent with modification of the shared conceptual systems we call "cultures"--that is parallel in many ways to Darwin's theory of organic evolution. The author suggests that a process of cultural selection, or preservation by preference, driven chiefly by choice or imposition depending on the circumstances, has been the main but not exclusive force of cultural change. He shows that this process gives rise to five major patterns or "modes" in which cultural change is at odds with genetic change. Each of the five modes is discussed in some detail and its existence confirmed through one or more case studies chosen for their heuristic value, the robustness of their data, and their broader implications. But "Coevolution" predicts not simply the existence of the five modes of gene-culture relations; it also predicts their relative importance in the ongoing dynamics of cultural change in particular cases. The case studies themselves are lucid and innovative reexaminations of an array of oft-pondered anthropological topics--plural marriage, sickle-cell anemia, basic color terms, adult lactose absorption, incest taboos, headhunting, and cannibalism. In a general case, the author's goal is to demonstrate that an evolutionary analysis of both genes and culture has much to contribute to our understanding of human diversity, particularly behavioral diversity, and thus to the resolution of age-old questions about nature and nurture, genes and culture.

Dynamics of Industrial Revolution 4.0: Digital Technology Transformation and Cultural Evolution

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1000441016
Total Pages : 382 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (4 download)

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Book Synopsis Dynamics of Industrial Revolution 4.0: Digital Technology Transformation and Cultural Evolution by : Ratri Wulandari

Download or read book Dynamics of Industrial Revolution 4.0: Digital Technology Transformation and Cultural Evolution written by Ratri Wulandari and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-08-25 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 7th Bandung Creative Movement conference presented the theme "Dynamics of Industrial Revolution 4.0" which discussed how the digital world and connectivity changed human culture in various aspects of life, and transformed in accordance to human needs and social culture. Digital technology has transformed society to serve people from manufacturing needs to smart cities, from network connectivity to people connectivity. The application of information technology has helped in improving live quality and environmental sustainability. Digital transformation is revolutionizing how businesses and workers interconnect to be more productive and efficient. The result is improved collaboration, faster processes and time-to-market, lower costs and better products. Devices are getting smarter, meaning they are able to perform more and more tasks without human intervention; moreover, these devices generate data that provide insights to further improve processes and gain greater efficiencies. Moreover, with the Internet of Things (IoT), all these smart devices are interconnected in ways that not only help make them even smarter, but also enhances the intelligence of the overall system. Digital technology is a formidable driver for the transformation of a highly carbon-dependent world into one that is more ecologically ‘smart.’ We are entering a new era of environmental innovation that is driving better alignment between technology and environmental goals. Since its first announcement in 2011, industrial revolution 4.0 has dynamically changed and transformed to adjust itself to the human needs and to serve more efficiency and effectiveness of everyday life as well as environmental enhancement. The 7th Bandung Creative Movement has brought forward discussions on dynamic changes, ups and downs, innovations, relations of industrial revolution of the internet of thing, data, automation, to human physical world, new art and aesthetic, business, product innovation, built environment, and education.

Explaining Culture Scientifically

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Publisher : University of Washington Press
ISBN 13 : 029599763X
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (959 download)

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Book Synopsis Explaining Culture Scientifically by : Melissa J. Brown

Download or read book Explaining Culture Scientifically written by Melissa J. Brown and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2017-05-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What exactly is culture? The authors of this volume suggest that the study of one of anthropology's central questions may be a route to developing a scientific paradigm for the field. The contributors - prominent scholars in anthropology, biology, and economics - approach culture from very different theoretical and methodological perspectives, through studies grounded in fieldwork, surveys, demography, and other empirical data. From humans to chimpanzees, from Taiwan to New Guinea, from cannibalism to marriage patterns, this volume directly addresses the challenges of explaining culture scientifically. The evolutionary paradigm lends itself particularly well to the question of culture; in these essays, different modes of inheritance - genetic, cultural, ecological, and structural - illustrate evolutionary patterns in a variety of settings. Explaining Culture Scientifically is divided into parts that address how to think about culture, modeling approaches to cultural influences on behavior, ethnographic case studies addressing the question of culture's influence on behavior, and challenges to the possibility of a scientific approach to culture. It is necessary reading for scholars and students in anthropology and related disciplines.

Cultural Evolution in the Digital Age

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Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198835949
Total Pages : 273 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (988 download)

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Book Synopsis Cultural Evolution in the Digital Age by : Alberto Acerbi

Download or read book Cultural Evolution in the Digital Age written by Alberto Acerbi and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From emails to social media, from instant messaging to political memes, the way we produce and transmit culture is radically changing. Understanding the consequences of the massive diffusion of digital media is of the utmost importance, both from the intellectual and the social point of view. 'Cultural Evolution in the Digital Age' proposes that a specific discipline - cultural evolution - provides an excellent framework to analyse our digital age. Cultural evolution is a vibrant, interdisciplinary, and increasingly productive scientific framework that aims to provide a naturalistic and quantitative explanation of culture. In the book the author shows how cultural evolution offers both a sophisticated view of human behaviour, grounded in cognitive science and evolutionary theory, and a strong quantitative and experimental methodology. The book examines in depth various topics that directly originate from the application of cultural evolution research to digital media. Is online social influence radically different from previous forms of social influence? Do digital media amplify the effects of popularity and celebrity influence? What are the psychological forces that favour the spread of online misinformation? What are the effects of the hyper-availability of information online on cultural cumulation? The cultural evolutionary perspective provides novel insights, and a relatively encouraging take on the overall effects of our online activities on our culture. Cultural Evolution is an area of rapidly growing interest, and this timely book will be important reading for students and researchers in the fields of psychology, anthropology, cognitive science, and the media.

The Origin of Civilisation

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (9 download)

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Book Synopsis The Origin of Civilisation by : Bernice Cohen

Download or read book The Origin of Civilisation written by Bernice Cohen and published by . This book was released on 1988 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume 2.

How We Became Human

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Publisher : MSU Press
ISBN 13 : 1628952334
Total Pages : 406 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (289 download)

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Book Synopsis How We Became Human by : Pierpaolo Antonello

Download or read book How We Became Human written by Pierpaolo Antonello and published by MSU Press. This book was released on 2015-10-01 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From his groundbreaking Violence and the Sacred and Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World, René Girard’s mimetic theory is presented as elucidating “the origins of culture.” He posits that archaic religion (or “the sacred”), particularly in its dynamics of sacrifice and ritual, is a neglected and major key to unlocking the enigma of “how we became human.” French philosopher of science Michel Serres states that Girard’s theory provides a Darwinian theory of culture because it “proposes a dynamic, shows an evolution and gives a universal explanation.” This major claim has, however, remained underscrutinized by scholars working on Girard’s theory, and it is mostly overlooked within the natural and social sciences. Joining disciplinary worlds, this book aims to explore this ambitious claim, invoking viewpoints as diverse as evolutionary culture theory, cultural anthropology, archaeology, cognitive psychology, ethology, and philosophy. The contributors provide major evidence in favor of Girard’s hypothesis. Equally, Girard’s theory is presented as having the potential to become for the human and social sciences something akin to the integrating framework that present-day biological science owes to Darwin—something compatible with it and complementary to it in accounting for the still remarkably little understood phenomenon of human emergence.

Continuities in Cultural Evolution

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351526081
Total Pages : 526 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (515 download)

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Book Synopsis Continuities in Cultural Evolution by : Margaret Mead

Download or read book Continuities in Cultural Evolution written by Margaret Mead and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-12 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Margaret Mead once said, "I have spent most of my life studying the lives of other peoples--faraway peoples--so that Americans might better understand themselves." Continuities in Cultural Evolution is evidence of this devotion. All of Mead's efforts were intended to help others learn about themselves and work toward a more humane and socially responsible society. Scientist, writer, explorer, and teacher, Mead brought the serious work of anthropology into the public consciousness. This volume began as the Terry Lectures, given at Yale in 1957 and was not published until 1964, after extensive reworking. The time she spent on revision is evidence of the importance Mead attached to the subject: the need to develop a truly evolutionary vision of human culture and society. This was desirable in her eyes both in order to reinforce the historical dimension in our ideas about human culture, and to preserve the relevance of historical and cultural diversity to social, economic, and political action. Given the present state of academic and public discourse alike, this volume speaks to us in a language we badly need to recover.

Memetics

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Author :
Publisher : Tim Tyler
ISBN 13 : 1461035260
Total Pages : 326 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (61 download)

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Book Synopsis Memetics by : Tim Tyler

Download or read book Memetics written by Tim Tyler and published by Tim Tyler. This book was released on 2011-08-19 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Memetics is the name commonly given to the study of memes - a term originally coined by Richard Dawkins to describe small inherited elements of human culture. Memes are the cultural equivalent of DNA genes - and memetics is the cultural equivalent of genetics. Memes have become ubiquitous in the modern world - but there has been relatively little proper scientific study of how they arise, spread and change - apparently due to turf wars within the social sciences and misguided resistance to Darwinian explanations being applied to human behaviour. However, with the modern explosion of internet memes, I think this is bound to change. With memes penetrating into every mass media channel, and with major companies riding on their coat tails for marketing purposes, social scientists will surely not be able to keep the subject at arm's length for much longer. This will be good - because an understanding of memes is important. Memes are important for marketing and advertising. They are important for defending against marketing and advertising. They are important for understanding and managing your own mind. They are important for understanding science, politics, religion, causes, propaganda and popular culture. Memetics is important for understanding the origin and evolution of modern humans. It provides insight into the rise of farming, science, industry, technology and machines. It is important for understanding the future of technological change and human evolution. This book covers the basic concepts of memetics, giving an overview of its history, development, applications and the controversy that has been associated with it.