Name: Memes and "temes"
Uploaded: 2008-06-03T01:00:00Z
Duration: 19 min 14 s
Description: Susan Blackmore studies memes: ideas that replicate themselves from brain to brain like a virus. She makes a bold new argument: Humanity has spawned a new kind of meme, the teme, which spreads itself via technology -- and invents ways to keep itself alive

*The Selfish Gene*

*On the Origin of Species*

*Darwin's Dangerous Idea*

*What Makes Us Human?*

Susan Blackmore studies memes: ideas that replicate themselves from brain to brain like a virus. She makes a bold new argument: Humanity has spawned a new kind of meme, the teme, which spreads itself via technology -- and invents ways to keep itself alive

Memes and "temes"

Human culture acts as a powerful evolutionary engine, driven not just by genes but by self-replicating memes that shape behavior and ideas. Now, technology has spawned a third replicator: the teme, or technological meme, which evolves largely outside human control. The global spread of habits, like folded hotel toilet paper, illustrates how memes propagate with little regard for usefulness. As these processes accelerate, the consequences for humanity and the planet grow more unpredictable and potentially hazardous.