Memes and Cultural Evolution

• Darwin suggested that natural selection applies to language, influencing word usage and competition.
• Memetics expands natural selection to cultural units like words and ideas.
• A meme is any cultural idea or information that can be transmitted, such as a word, idea, or song.
• Memes evolve through variation, heritability via social learning, and differential selection where some gain popularity while others fade.

Memes vs. Genes

• Dawkins coined the term "meme" from the Greek "mimema," meaning to imitate.
• Memes, while not genetic, parallel genes with transient vehicles (people) and immortal replicators (menes).
• Genes reside in a gene pool longer than individual lifespans, similar to memes.
• Dawkins proposed memes as insidious replicators, using minds as replication vehicles.

Replicator Characteristics

• Replicators must have longevity, fecundity (spread), and copying fidelity.
• Both genes and memes exhibit longevity, outliving individual carriers.
• Genes and memes both demonstrate fecundity, spreading and propagating.
• Genes and memes exhibit copying fidelity, retaining core components during replication.
• Meme formats remain constant but vary in text, though exact unchanged transmission is debated.

Minds as Vehicles

• Genes use humans for replication through sexual selection.
• Memes use human minds for transmission and imitation.
• Natural selection programs humans for survival and reproduction, while memes use individuals as vehicles.
• Memorable thoughts act as megaphones, with memes choosing individuals to disseminate.

Meme Control

• Memes use individuals as vehicles for replication, influencing thoughts and actions.

Meme-Eyed View

• Memetics offer a novel perspective on cultural transmission beyond human benefits.
• Evolution should be viewed from the meme’s perspective, prioritizing spreadability over human value.

Mutations

• Mutations introduce variation in evolution.
• Without mutations, natural selection eliminates variation, leading to a single final form.
• Meme mutations occur during social learning/imitation, akin to broken telephone.
• Meme mutations arise from copying errors, exemplified by song learning in chaffinches.
• Song variants in chaffinches change with migration and copying errors.
• Human meme mutations occur through misremembered records passed on as fact.
• The meme-eyed view prioritizes adaptability and spread over correctness.
• The horned viking image persists despite historical inaccuracy due to easy recall and transmission.

Criticisms of Memetics & Rebuttals

• Defining meme boundaries is hard; if memes are like genes, they should be easily identifiable as particulates.
• Rebuttal: gene units are not easily identifiable.
• Genes are not always particulate (Introns).
• Conceptual biological concepts have fuzzy boundaries.
• Memes merge together, but biological evolution has phylogenetic lines that diverge and don’t combine.
• Rebuttal: biological evolution has convergence and introgression, two species merging.
• Memetic evolution is Lamarckian and directed; meme info can be changed by individuals.
• Rebuttal: social learning is not Lamarkian.
• Artificial selection is also directional.

Additional Criticisms of Memetics

• Minds interpret and reconstruct information, suggesting they aren't empty vessels for memes.
• Genetic differences such as openness influence meme selection, indicating active processing.
• There is varying preparedness for meme information, such as imprinting and food avoidance.
• More research is needed on passive intake of memes.
• It is possible that we have evolved preferences for certain types of memes.
• There are no established methods or experimental techniques used to create evidence, so Is memetics really a science?
• Specific, testable hypotheses is what Memetics requires for predicting meme evolution.

Long-Term Mating Strategies

• Women prioritize resources, while men prioritize reproductive value.

Paradox of Sex

• Sex is the primary way eukaryotic organisms reproduce, though expensive.
• Only half can produce offspring so Cost of males
• Cost of meiosis when only passing on fits Cost of meiosis
• Costs of sexual structures/mating behaviours reduces survival

Benefits of sex

• Male care provides two parents.
• Deleterious alleles are purged during asexual reproduction.
• Beneficial alleles are combined.
• Benefits exceed costs.

Sexual selection

• Individuals differ in reproductive success according to mate acquisition.
• Four processes classify sexual selection based on sexes and timing:.
• Intrasexual selection involves competition within the same sex, which increases mating access.

Intersexual Selection

• Members of one sex choose mate qualities of the opposite sex, especially female choice based on choosiness/reproductive investment.
• Precopulatory sexual selection involves traits evolving to improve reproductive success before sex.
• Intrasexual selection involves fighting ability and weapons.
• Intersexual selection involves attractiveness.
• Postcopulatory sexual selection involves traits evolving to improve reproductive success after sex.
• Intrasexual selection involves sperm competition.
• There are accessory gland proteins Intersexual selection

Hypotheses of Sexual Selection

• Sexual selection operates in nature and identifies desired traits.
• Direct benefits are related to traits that provide resources, increasing survival and fecundity.
• Male cardinals with red plumage provide more parental care.
• Indirect benefits are traits of good genetic quality.
• Female fruit flies like large males with shorter life spans because offspring have higher fitness.
• Runaway selection Genetic control of the female preference of a trait is linked to the gene that allows that trait to be expressed.
• Females find long tails on birds attractive.

Sensory Bias

• Sensory bias favors male traits that exploit existing biases of females.
• Female guppies attracted to orange are also drawn to orange objects.

Sex Differences

• Each sex faces distinct challenges in reproduction.
• There's difference in investment for reproduction.
• Sperm is cheap/easy, and eggs are expensive/limited.
• Females typically invest more in raising offspring.
• Variation is greater in reproductive success of males due to differing mating rates.

Women's Long-Term Mating Strategies

• Batemans principle
• Limited eggs, pregnancy, and resource sharing restricts mating.
• The environment of evolutionary adaptedness is the EEA
• Diet affects when children forage
• Diets are shellfish/fish, game, fruits.

Trivers's Theory of Parental Investment

• The sex investing invests more in offspring is more choosy.
• In humans, marriage results to both more choosy.
• When a person is looking for a mate, many characteristics people can deceive.
• An attractive mate has humans and promiscuiity

Preferences

• Women ask if men can rate other men, all prefer resources.
• Important universal cross is financial prospect.
• Status is usually high, and higher status = access to sources.
• Ambition and industriousness is good, and so is dependability.
• Physical traits and athletism.
• Symmetry and masculinity mean health.
• Love and commitment mean that a man will present.

Evolutionary Adaptations

• Evolved adaptations are not always moral.
• An example is Gender economic inequality which is male dominant
• Mate choice copying is when a man is seen with women, increasing his perceived attractiveness.

Men's Strategy

• Rules are set by women.
• Paternal status is most likely yours if long term
• If status is married, access to the mate is longer.
• Reproductive value is higher is healthy and fit.

Attractiveness

• Infants looked longer at attractive women.
• Men prefer a youth to be more respective

Health

• Teeth, hair and skin.
• A body has to be curved with a waist.
• The ovulating exsitence is the most appractive.

Paternal Certainty

• Chasity is most cultural.
• Fidelity means what is what. Context lies for the person in power.
• Like Leanardo DE Caprio or attractive women sellin.
• Testosterone has to do with mating and parenting.

Short-Term Sexual Strategies

• Men who sleeps with strangers goes up to 70%
• Short-term mating and relationhips and long term.
• There is cross-cultural and history as well.
• The parental investment is one sided.

Men's Short-Term Mating

• Men that pursue it have to potential to sire offspring.

Benefits

• To sire more offspring the risks of STIs and violence from husbands.
• There's always the chance women will switch.
• Selection means that adaptations are needed.
• Benefits that costs is the physiological mechanism

Male Problems With Mating

• Strong number of partners is needed.
• Fertility needs cue based attraction.
• The ancestral non.

Monogamous Mating

• Humans are larger than testes.

Psychology

• This could be the desire for variety.
• Men claim that the number is higher.
• There is casual partners too.

Fantasy

• The show pics from before. Attraction reduction has sexual rigret.
• The reason for men and women cheating.

Ratioanle

• Evidence from the the women.
• Women's and orgasm have to do with the sperm.

Benefits in the Short Term

• When there is exchange for sex.

Manipulation

Attempting to increase current partners.

• Women also have costs.
• A higher exposure to STIs.
• A few empircals say men are good

Individuality

• When it starts to get really bad.
• Father absence is detriminal.
• There are life transitions and experimentation.

Context

• This is when the hookups happen.
• When others want stable relationhips.
• There's many different variables.

Homosexuality

• This is a paradox.

Persistence

• The population engages with the same sex. Twin studies show heritable components.

The Origins

• This has been present among populations and ancient peoples.
• The Melanese culture has homo.
• Many primates do it to.
• The reason is they want to find the right mate.
• The theory is inclusive of the fit.
• More homosexula that heterosexual.

Hypothesis

• Genetics can evolve.
• The advantage of relative will be different.
• It's a no evidence so far.
• This happens to men and women.

Strategies

• The alleles are also with the same sex.
• This is the end of it.

Kin And Family

• Something that comes from you.
• Parallel to what and how we invest.

Parenting

• This is needed because everyone will pass the genes.
• How much parental love there is depends on species.
• They have to offer survival and reproductive success.

Challenges

• Limits is limited especially with a brain this big.
• To have offspring means more investment is crucial.
• In the fundamental difference, both invest more.
• They have different opportunities.

Genetics

• This child may already belong to genetics.
• The most important thing is kin recognition.
• They all are connected from afar.

Sibling Relationships

• In the birth order most are birth born.

Examples

• Are that of B. G..
• There still the thought of Kin to the end.
• People tend to live in certain conditions and get what they have.

Scenarios

• People could get ill withness.
• Genetics still help from any angle.

Mediations

• Genetics are closenss strongly correlates feelings.

Structure

• Steps and familives or something.

Disasters

• This is how families would decide.

Wills

The inheritance is really something.

Certainty

The grandmothers all invest the most with genetics for the most part.

Aunts

Most are pretty unusal and need more help.

Restrictions

When the shortage can't do it, family gets to involved.

Theory

• With the genetics of family there still rules.
• Vacancy leads to conflict through familes.
• The the thing is there refienements.
• This is because people are usually for life. There seems to be 3 major sources of conflict.
• Sibling and relationship. That means there is not much of a way to do it .

Strategies

• More so on genetic spread.
• Limited sources cause the rest.
• So genetics are just a waste.