“What happens when an animal or person dies? Something seems to have departed--something like a vital spark that makes the difference between life and death. In the nineteenth century, philosophers believed that there really was such a thing and called… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
For the planet's sake, I hope we have bird flu or some other thing that will reduce the population, because otherwise we're doomed. — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
Just as the design of our bodies can be understood only in terms of natural selection, so the design of our minds can be… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they think about memes is they try to extend on the analogy with genes. That's… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
You start by copying other people's paintings or music or whatever. You get all of those skills before you branch out. Really creative people… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
Take male strategies for success in the world. If you've got all the advantages, if you're attractive and clever and all of that, you… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
The sale of sex in modern societies is not about spreading genes. Sex has been taken over by the memes. — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
In proportion to our body mass, our brain is three times as large as that of our nearest relatives. This huge organ is dangerous and painful to give birth to, expensive to build and, in a resting human, uses about 20 per cent of the body's energy even though it is just 2 per cent of the body's weight. There… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share
Free will and consciousness is an illusion, and the self is a complex of memes. — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
If everyone understood evolution, then the tyranny of religious memes would be weakened, and we little humans might find a better way to live… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
Finally, we might decide that civilisation itself is worth preserving. In that case we have to work out what to save and which people… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
Imagine a world full of brains, and far more memes than can possibly find homes. Which memes are more likely to find a safe… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
All other species on this planet are gene machines only. They don't imitate at all well; we alone are gene machines and meme machines… — Susan Blackmore Copy Share Image
