Thoughts on the Distribution of Thoughts: Memes or Epidemies

Abstract

The paper starts from a general consideration of three programs in cognitive science: the internalist, the externalist, and the social approaches to cognition. In the social domain, some new approaches propose that human sociality is to be treated as part of our biological nature. Several research programs were born out of these considerations. There are some among them that propose general theories for the distribution of representations. The paper analyses two of these, the meme theory put forward by Richard Dawkins, and the epidemiological theory proposed by Dan Sperber. It points out that while for Dawkins the essential aspect is replication, for Sperber it is transmission of representations where biological analogies become crucial. For both theories, to turn them into working models, a lot of detailed elaboration is needed from data on social science.