>>[Dawkins] created [memes] mainly to attack religions by equating them with viruses. Huh, it was quite a few years since I read "Selfish Gene" last, but that

>>[Dawkins] created [memes] mainly to attack religions by equating them with viruses. Huh, it was quite a few years since I read "Selfish Gene" last, but that isn't how I remember it? Where did he state that? (AFAIK, Dawkins has never been a big fan of meme-ism, the theoretical research.) >>The line between parasite and symbiosis is fuzzy. A bit, but I definitely remember Dawkins arguing for a simple test of this in evolutionary biology. >>Even organisms like dwarf tapeworms can help people by reducing allergies so surely religion has done some good. Parasites like tapeworms was so common that our immune system wasn't optimized for being without them. Does that really qualify as symbiosis? But sure, religion might not have caused more suffering than tapeworms... :-)