I believe that when reality and theory are in conflict, reality is the winner, even when it appears irrational. If religion wasn’t a net positive, it wouldn’t manifest in basically every culture to ever exist.
Memetics is similar enough to biology in this regard that, even just on priors, we should expect the existence of purely parasitic memes, beliefs which propagate without being long-term net positive for the hosts (i.e. humans). And on examination of details, that sure does seem to be the case for an awful lot of memes, especially the ideological variety.
I’m not sure if that proves purely parasitic memes, but I do think that unhelpful memes can manifest unless they’re selected against.
That said, I think it’s a solid idea to judge things by their outcomes (a flawless looking theory is inferior to a stupid theory if it brings about worse outcomes). In the case of ideologies, which I mainly consider to be modern movements rather than traditional cultures, I think we can judge them as bad not because the people involved in them are being irrational and wrong (they are), but because they’re also deeply unhappy and arguably acting in pathological patterns. And in my view of the world, social movements aren’t memes or the results of them, they’re symptoms of bad mental development.
I judge self-reported well-being, and biological indicators of health to be the best metrics we have to judge the success of peoples. Anyone who uses GDP as a metric for improvement in the world will conclude things which are entirely in conflict with my own conclusions. If you ask me, the Amish are doing just fine, whereas the modern American is in poor shape both physically and mentally. But from what I gather, Amish people are much less educated and poor on average.
To complicate “Judge things by their outcomes” further, imagine two people:
Mr. A saves 100$ every week, he does not have a lot left over for fun because he plays it safe. Mr. B is in a 100$ deficit every week. He enjoys himself and throws parties every now and then.
From an outside perspective, Mr. A will look like a poor person who can’t afford to enjoy himself, and Mr. B will seem like he’s in a comfortable position. When people look at society and judge how it’s doing, I believe they’re mislead by appearances in exactly this manner. Waste can appear as wealth, and frugality can appear as poverty.
Are you aware that transposons are a thing? Also prions?
Memetics is similar enough to biology in this regard that, even just on priors, we should expect the existence of purely parasitic memes, beliefs which propagate without being long-term net positive for the hosts (i.e. humans). And on examination of details, that sure does seem to be the case for an awful lot of memes, especially the ideological variety.
I’m not sure if that proves purely parasitic memes, but I do think that unhelpful memes can manifest unless they’re selected against.
That said, I think it’s a solid idea to judge things by their outcomes (a flawless looking theory is inferior to a stupid theory if it brings about worse outcomes). In the case of ideologies, which I mainly consider to be modern movements rather than traditional cultures, I think we can judge them as bad not because the people involved in them are being irrational and wrong (they are), but because they’re also deeply unhappy and arguably acting in pathological patterns. And in my view of the world, social movements aren’t memes or the results of them, they’re symptoms of bad mental development.
I judge self-reported well-being, and biological indicators of health to be the best metrics we have to judge the success of peoples. Anyone who uses GDP as a metric for improvement in the world will conclude things which are entirely in conflict with my own conclusions. If you ask me, the Amish are doing just fine, whereas the modern American is in poor shape both physically and mentally. But from what I gather, Amish people are much less educated and poor on average.
To complicate “Judge things by their outcomes” further, imagine two people:
Mr. A saves 100$ every week, he does not have a lot left over for fun because he plays it safe.
Mr. B is in a 100$ deficit every week. He enjoys himself and throws parties every now and then.
From an outside perspective, Mr. A will look like a poor person who can’t afford to enjoy himself, and Mr. B will seem like he’s in a comfortable position. When people look at society and judge how it’s doing, I believe they’re mislead by appearances in exactly this manner. Waste can appear as wealth, and frugality can appear as poverty.