We Are Meme Machines

I had previously refered to the concept of memes, but it took me a while to actually get to read Susan Blackmore's book. It is definitely a thorough presentation of what memetics is all about and the most revealing aspect about it is the field's extreme infancy and doubtful future. Don't get me wrong. Blackmore has some really brilliant ideas that could be the solution to difficult problems like the origin of language and the idea of self (I am sure Douglas Hofstadter's "I Am A Strange Loop" has a lot of insights on this subject - you will probably wait another year for a review of that one!).
The general idea behind memetics is that from the moment a species, namely us, developed the ability to imitate a second replicator was born, the meme. As a consequence, humans, unlike most animals, evolved under the pressure of not just one replicator, the gene, but two. The two replicators care nothing for us - we are merely their vehicles - but they also don't care for each other. Memes and genes aren't always allies. Susan Blackmore does a great job at explaining the interactions between the two replicators and how those interactions worked to bring the human species to its current level. The memetic theory does provide some powerful explanations and Blackmore follows the scientific method and suggests a number of tests for her theories. I am not sure if there have been attempts at them and the reason for this is that there's no clear benefit from a theory of memetics. Scientific theories provide more than explanations - they provide solutions and predictions - and there are considerable criticisms on whether memetics will be able to provide either. Blackmore is very fair when it comes to criticism, she cites a great number of authors, scientists and philosophers from all sides of an argument, but she's a little bit obvious when she's promoting her theory. That's understandable, of course, and doesn't substract from her integrity.
Despite what will become of memetics, "The Meme Machine" is a wonderful book as it makes you look at the world in radically different ways - this can only be positive.