?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Ideas+are+not+replicators+but+minds+are&rft.creator=Gabora%2C+Dr.+Liane&rft.subject=Complexity+Theory&rft.subject=Evolution&rft.subject=Behavioral+Biology&rft.subject=Cognitive+Psychology&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Science&rft.subject=Theoretical+Biology&rft.subject=Epistemology&rft.description=An+idea+is+not+a+replicator+because+it+does+not+consist+of+coded+self-assembly+instructions.+It+may+retain+structure+as+it+passes+from+one+individual+to+another%2C+but+does+not+replicate+it.+The+cultural+replicator+is+not+an+idea+but+an+associatively-structured+network+of+them+that+together+form+an+internal+model+of+the+world%2C+or+worldview.+A+worldview+is+a+primitive%2C+uncoded+replicator%2C+like+the+autocatalytic+sets+of+polymers+widely+believed+to+be+the+earliest+form+of+life.+Primitive+replicators+generate+self-similar+structure%2C+but+because+the+process+happens+in+a+piecemeal+manner%2C+through+bottom-up+interactions+rather+than+a+top-down+code%2C+they+replicate+with+low+fidelity%2C+and+acquired+characteristics+are+inherited.+Just+as+polymers+catalyze+reactions+that+generate+other+polymers%2C+the+retrieval+of+an+item+from+memory+can+in+turn+trigger+other+items%2C+thus+cross-linking+memories%2C+ideas%2C+and+concepts+into+an+integrated+conceptual+structure.+Worldviews+evolve+idea+by+idea%2C+largely+through+social+exchange.+An+idea+participates+in+the+evolution+of+culture+by+revealing+certain+aspects+of+the+worldview+that+generated+it%2C+thereby+affecting+the+worldviews+of+those+exposed+to+it.+If+an+idea+influences+seemingly+unrelated+fields+this+does+not+mean+that+separate+cultural+lineages+are+contaminating+one+another%2C+because+it+is+worldviews%2C+not+ideas%2C+that+are+the+basic+unit+of+cultural+evolution.&rft.publisher=Kluwer+Academic+Press&rft.contributor=Gabora%2C+Dr.+Liane&rft.date=2004-01&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3418%2F1%2FGabora2004IdeasAreNotReplicatorsMindsAre.pdf&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3418%2F2%2Freplicator.html&rft.identifier=++Gabora%2C+Dr.+Liane++(2004)+Ideas+are+not+replicators+but+minds+are.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F3418%2F