Thinking Outside of the Box

My thesis is that "thinking outside of the box" is the memetic analogue of "genetic mutation" in biology. It should be rare. It is usually detrimental. But it is required for adaptation to a changing environment.

In the video, I talked about a child psychology study by Andrew Melzoff. Here's the link:
http://ilabs.washington.edu/meltzoff/pdf/05Meltzoff_Like%20Me%20Hypoth.pdf

I also talked about Thomas Kuhn's great book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" It's an awesome book for those who haven't read it already. Here's the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Structure-Scientific-Revolutions-Thomas-Kuhn/dp/0226458...

--Javier
http://thesciencepundit.blogspot.com/

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• atheism
• outside
• box
• meme
• mutation
• ASU
• qestions

[Barklord]

I just found this through kurtilein3's favourites. This is a great video but I'm always irritated by the idea that "memes" are in some way a relatively new idea. Cultural imitation has been used by yogis, philosophers, prophets, etc. since the beginning of language itself, I bet. Anyway, favourited!

[CousinoMacul]

No doubt! Dawkins' contribution (besides just coining a new term) was to suggest that cultural forms are subject to Darwinian evolution.

[HaleyMary]

I would agree that atheists would be more likely to be outside of the box thinkers. Atheists tend to read books and form their own opinions about life and the world without any doctrines telling them what to think. There are still some things that wouldn't be original ideas, as most opinions even in science get passed down over the generations. But, people can still have their own individual interpretations when they do read something.

[soccergoalieforlife]

The same is with fundamentalist theists, so really its not about what "world view" a person ascribes to, but whether they want to question their immediate environment or belief

[soccergoalieforlife]

well i think it depends on what kind of atheist your dealing with, one who denies a religous environment because of scientific environment isn't really thinking outside the box, they are just converting their beliefs to something else. Some atheists seem to never question science and feel that, science answers everything which is just another faithful imitation of what they were taught in their new scientific environment.

[Loreleila]

In my admittedly limited knowledge of Atheists it would appear there is as much boxy thinking as in most other groups.

[Loreleila]

Conditioned reflexes are what most operate on constantly, an unconscious learnt behaviour which means the boxes run you and not the other way around. But to think outside the box simply means to be aware and conscious as to what is actually taking place in each situation. To attempt at least to see what is, yet of course there are a multiplicity of ways to observe and examine anything...

[Barklord]

And I can't forget Aristotle's "entelechy"! Sorry for the spam. I'm on an early morning coffee high. lol

[Barklord]

I was just reminded of the way the presocratic philosopher-poets like Parmenides and Empedocles would use rare words and phrases from Homer in order to add meaning or context to their own work. They used larger sets of memes that people were already familiar with. Instead of memes, they usually used "seeds" or other agri metaphors.

[kurtilein3]

i really like the theory of memes... if you want mankind to progress then it becomes clear that religion is ALWAYS harmful because religion always causes dogma and always has an element of faith. faith maps ideas on reality by believing it to be true while it might be wrong. and dogma just stops progress in the areas covered by it.