LW Humanist Association

The LW Humanist Association will meet Sunday, Dec. 7, in Clubhouse 3, Room 1, at 10:30 a.m. Dave Silva will talk about memetics and how it affects human life and behavior.

The Webster dictionary defines memetics as, “An element of a culture that may be passed on by non-genetic means. Specifically, by imitation.”

The word was introduced in “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins, in 1976. It comes from the Greek word mimeme, meaning “imitated thing.” Since then, important writers like Daniel Dennett, Susan Blackmore and others have examined how thoughts and beliefs transmitted from mind to mind have changed human society. Memetics provides answers to questions like why do people have large brains, why have they evolved to use complex language and how does learning from imitation make humans different. There will be a PowerPoint presentation and time for questions.