Memes as Signs in the Dynamic Logic of Semiosis: Beyond Molecular Science and Computation Theory (original) (raw)

Abstract

The concept of meme misidentifies units of cultural information as active agents, which is the same “shorthand” that misleads our understanding of genes and obscures the dynamic logic of evolution. But the meme concept does offer hope by contributing something missing from many semiotic theories. In treating memes as replicators, Dawkins fails to distinguish mere patterns from information (and replication from interpretation), which leads to the problem encountered in all realms of information processing: what counts as information is context dependent. Nothing is intrinsically meaningful, to be so it must be interpreted. In the evolution of both genes and words, replication has always been a multilevel affair in a dynamic system, from which what we conceive as “adapted” or “interpreted” units emerge. Memes are replicas not replicators, and I suggest that the iconic function of signs, as identified by Peirce, is the essence of the meme concept. As in sign function, both gene and meme functions are informed by whatever relationship exists between the physical pattern of the token and the system of processes in which each is embedded (so these are semiotic relationships). I argue that two, not-clearly-articulated aspects of the meme concept could rescue semiotic from mere descriptive taxonomy and lead the way for a general theory of semiosis and a unifying methodology for the semiotic sciences to emerge.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

How Molecules Became Signs

Article Open access 25 September 2021

References

  1. Dawkins, R.: The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1989)
    Google Scholar
  2. Dawkins, R.: The Meme Machine. Susan, B. (ed.) Oxford University Press, Oxford
    Google Scholar
  3. Dawkins, R.: The Extended Phenotype. Freeman, New York (1982)
    Google Scholar
  4. Dennett, D.: Consciousness Explained. Little Brown (1991)
    Google Scholar
  5. Deacon, T.: Multilevel selection in a complex adaptive system: the problem of language origins. In: Weber, B., Depew, D. (eds.) Evolution and Learning: The Baldwin Effect Reconsidered, MIT Press, Cambridge (2003)
    Google Scholar
  6. Peirce, C.S.: Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce. vol. 8. Burks, A.W., Hartshorne, C., Weiss, P. (eds.) Harvard University Press (1931–1953)
    Google Scholar
  7. Deacon, T.: The Symbolic Species: The Coevolution of Language and the Brain. W.W. Norton, and Co (1997)
    Google Scholar
  8. Deacon, T.W.: The Hierarchical Logic of Emergence: Untangling the interdependence of evolution and self-organization. In: Weber, B., Depew, D. (eds.) Evolution and Learning: The Baldwin Effect Reconsidered, MIT Press, Cambridge (2003)
    Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Neurosciences Program, University of California, Berkeley
    Terrence W. Deacon

Authors

  1. Terrence W. Deacon
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mathematics and Science Faculty, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, Schoefferstr. 3, D-64295, Darmstadt, Germany
    Karl Erich Wolff
  2. New Mexico State University,
    Heather D. Pfeiffer
  3. Computer Science Department, Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville, AL 35899, Huntsville
    Harry S. Delugach

Rights and permissions

© 2004 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Deacon, T.W. (2004). Memes as Signs in the Dynamic Logic of Semiosis: Beyond Molecular Science and Computation Theory. In: Wolff, K.E., Pfeiffer, H.D., Delugach, H.S. (eds) Conceptual Structures at Work. ICCS 2004. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 3127. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-27769-9\_2

Download citation

Publish with us