Happy Birthday, Charles

(this post was written by Kyle on February 12, 2009, and it concerns & & & )

From Slate’s Charles Darwin Tagged You in a Note on Facebook: “Last week, I enlisted Slate readers to help divine how Facebook’s ‘25 Random Things About Me’ trend got started. More than 3,000 of you responded [including your friendly FI editor], answering queries on when you first saw a ‘25 Things’ note, when you were [...]

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Of Dawkins, Darwin, Dennett, and the Deity

(this post was written by Kyle on July 25, 2007, and it concerns & & & & & & & )

In Breaking the Spell: Religion as Natural Phenomenon, Daniel Dennett summarizes his process of evolutionary investigation with the “stock Latin phrase, ‘cui bono?,’ which means ‘Who benefits from this?’” (62). The basic idea is that one can best approach an evolutionary mystery by first determining who or what is the beneficiary of the equipment or [...]

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I take illegal drugs for inspiration

(this post was written by Kyle on January 23, 2007, and it concerns & & )

From I take illegal drugs for inspiration, written by Susan Blackmore, the author of The Meme Machine (which I’ve talked about on this site): “Some people may smoke dope just to relax or have fun, but for me the reason goes deeper. In fact, I can honestly say that without cannabis, most of my [...]

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Are We A Different Species?

(this post was written by Kyle on May 28, 2005, and it concerns & )

I was just reading the first chapter in Isaiah Berlin’s book,

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The Metaphor of Memes

(this post was written by Kyle on February 18, 2005, and it concerns )

I’ve been trying to visualize what a meme looks like. When I see one flying through the atmosphere, airborne between one mind and another, the meme resembles a sperm searching for an egg to impregnate. When I see a meme working in a mind, I see electrical bolts whose tips are the adventurous and conquering [...]

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