We've got that meme gene!

Up until now, this blog has discussed an overview of what brain plasticity is, and a specific insight into how it can be applied (language). Now, I'll pose a question that extends beyond the brain, and the physical human in generally, when it comes to plasticity. What if, there was something such as a 'cultural plasticity' that works similarly to how our brains and other things change. We must have a basis of which to start from, so we'll discuss memes and other ideas of cultural plasticity.

To start with memes, we should discuss what they are. Richard Dawkins coined the term in his book The Selfish Gene (1976) where he defines a meme as "a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena." Which are analogous to our physiological genes that we inherit from our ancestors. So, what if 'cultural' plasticity was more than just a cultural gene (meme) getting diffused out into society? What if it was the mechanism that memes springboard off of?

A definition of Cultural Plasticity from an anthropologists standpoint.

You might be asking, what does this have to do with anything, especially my brain? Well, for one thing it's an interesting topic, and one that hasn't really been explored that much yet. Another reason could be, everyone is part of some culture, whether you want to believe it or not. So, how can we discuss (more than just "it's a meme") the subtle evolutionary changes that occur in cultures? The idea includes more than "it's a fade" and is more a "its a culture."

One account for Cultural Plasticity could be the topic of neural archaeology.

Neural archaeology came up in a discussion I had with Jimmy Eckert after a CogSci meeting when we were discussing plasticity as a main topic. Also, look at this paper to dig deeper into what neuroarchaeology and how it relates to cultural plasticity.

Plasticity, as a whole, is a very interesting topic and can be related to more than just our brains. For now, just discussing how it relates to our brains is good, but once we can apply to something that is more than just ourselves it becomes even more interesting.

I just want to say thanks for reading! Plus, if you ever are bored and want to chat about plasticity, just let me know!

-Bryan