‘Natures’ Love Affair with ‘Nurture’

Biology is inextricable linked to psychology; in fact, the two should be united rather than divided.  Furthermore, the idea of nature vs. nurture is a fallacy and should be regarded as senescent: derived from the Latin word senex, meaning “advanced in age” or “growing old.”  Contemporary models, have begun to demonstrate the interpenetration of culture and biology in human development. Some researchers have begun to conceptualize the culture-brain interaction frameworks, however, real progress will not be made until two requirements are met: (1) multiple disciplines convergence (i.e., consilience) and (2) measurement and analysis at different levels occur.

The Ecology of Memes

Cultural evolution and genetic evolution possess many qualities and characteristics that are very similar. Both must obey the rules of natural selection and most importantly be successful replicators. Memes are present in today’s culture because culture is merely a compilation of memes.  Today’s society is equipped with many different avenues for cultural transmission, such as language, newspapers, television, and the World Wide Web. These innovations have allowed novel memes to replicate and old memes to ‘stay alive.’ However some view cultural evolution as strictly characteristic of humans and animal culture as interesting oddities. On the other hand, others believe culture is prevalent throughout the animal kingdom. This paper is a review of literature that addresses certain issues associated with the concept of memes. A descriptive example of a novel meme will be reviewed and the question of genetic determinism