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A biological analog that pops into mind is fermentation. Bacteria produce alcohol in an environment until the alcohol reaches toxic levels and all the bacteria
by greggyb 11y ago
A biological analog that pops into mind is fermentation. Bacteria produce alcohol in an environment until the alcohol reaches toxic levels and all the bacteria die.
I am not saying they are equivalent, just that the propagation of a fad has similarities to the propagation of alcohol-producing bacteria in a closed environment.
- astazangasta 11y agoSo now the analogy is to growth and dying off rather than selection, and the analog of the meme is the bacterial population, rather than a gene? Why are we trying to make these ham-fisted analogies at all? Ideas do not behave anything like genes; they have almost no properties in common with genes.