Daniel Dennett will be talking about "culturally evolved thinking tools -- memes -- that permit multiple layers of 'software'..." to hear more be there tomorrow:
[From iQuad:
Tomorrow! Psychology Keynote - Daniel Dennett :
Message No: 7689, Posted: 5/3/2013
Daniel Dennett’s talk is entitled: ‘How thinking tools populate our brains and turn them into minds’
On Tuesday 12th March at 2pm in Windsor Auditorium.
Human brains are composed, as other brains are, of billions of semi-independent mindless, clueless neurons. How do they get organized into structures that can take on novel routines of activity, execute novel algorithms, without laborious conditioning? It can take a thousand trials to train a monkey to perform a rather simple cognitive task that a human being can learn to perform in a minute or less. Our brains can implement virtual machines by the thousands. How might this be accomplished? By the installation of culturally evolved thinking tools--memes--that permit multiple layers of "software," creating indefinitely deep stacks of virtual machines that run on the underlying neural hardware.]
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The controversial meme concept is alive and well despite claims by detractors that this allegedly 'pernicious' concept is all but dead. One of the most respected, and controversial, philosophers of our time is speaking tomorrow at Royal Holloway. Dennett's books include Freedom Evolves, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, Brainchildren, and others.
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