Imitating Responsibly As humans we are unique. Humans, identical to all other creatures, evolved in a similar fashion to be where they are today. But unlike other living things, humans adapt, learn, and live differently. Humans have a quality that is so unique it separates them from everything else. And that quality is the ability to imitate. Susan Blackmore in “Strange Creatures” dives into the idea of human imitation and, “that imitation is what makes us special” (34). Blackmore provides the definition of imitation which is to copy exactly what the other person is doing and in doing so information is transferred from one to another. With this information the other person is influenced and he or she now has the power to further spread this
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He describes it as, “competition between genes” (Blackmore 34). Genes are spread based on what an individual does and how it moves from one to another to more. No one is evolving in the similar manner, it is the genes fighting to get reproduced. This is the gene’s eye view which is the world in the genes perspective. Memes are just like genes in the sense that they are also fighting to be reproduced and advance from one to another. Popular beliefs is a form that a meme can take; they can range from scientific or historic or to even something really silly. No matter what the meme or belief is accuracy is very significant. If someone is spreading a meme then they have the responsibility to make sure whatever they are sharing is precise. In addition the host is responsible for either accepting or rejecting the meme after pondering the legitimacy. Blackmore provides an example of a belief, that was very widely accepted until proven incorrect, “Before Copernicus and Galileo, people believed they lived at the centre of the universe in a world created especially for them by God. Gradually, we had to accept not only that the sun does not revolve around the earth, but that we live on some minor little planet in an ordinary galaxy in a vast universe of other galaxies” (Blackmore 38). This is a prime example of why the host of a meme should question the validity of this new knowledge. Accepting this responsibility can prevent misunderstandings and the dispersion of false information. A scientific television show, Mythbusters, is dedicated to taking popular beliefs and experimenting with them to see the validity of the information. They took on an internet meme in one of their episode; which was a challenge to eat a spoonful of cinnamon. This challenge has thousands of failures all over the internet who have had awful to dangerous reactions and was
He describes it as, “competition between genes” (Blackmore 34). Genes are spread based on what an individual does and how it moves from one to another to more. No one is evolving in the similar manner, it is the genes fighting to get reproduced. This is the gene’s eye view which is the world in the genes perspective. Memes are just like genes in the sense that they are also fighting to be reproduced and advance from one to another. Popular beliefs is a form that a meme can take; they can range from scientific or historic or to even something really silly. No matter what the meme or belief is accuracy is very significant. If someone is spreading a meme then they have the responsibility to make sure whatever they are sharing is precise. In addition the host is responsible for either accepting or rejecting the meme after pondering the legitimacy. Blackmore provides an example of a belief, that was very widely accepted until proven incorrect, “Before Copernicus and Galileo, people believed they lived at the centre of the universe in a world created especially for them by God. Gradually, we had to accept not only that the sun does not revolve around the earth, but that we live on some minor little planet in an ordinary galaxy in a vast universe of other galaxies” (Blackmore 38). This is a prime example of why the host of a meme should question the validity of this new knowledge. Accepting this responsibility can prevent misunderstandings and the dispersion of false information. A scientific television show, Mythbusters, is dedicated to taking popular beliefs and experimenting with them to see the validity of the information. They took on an internet meme in one of their episode; which was a challenge to eat a spoonful of cinnamon. This challenge has thousands of failures all over the internet who have had awful to dangerous reactions and was