.............Bad Memes .............

In the last blog I talked about how we sometimes have goals in life that aren't necessarily 'good for us' so so to speak. Some of these goals naturally occur because of our evolutionary heritage. The poor pacific salmons quest to reproduce, which ultimately results in rapid deterioration and death is an extreme example of this. A less extreme example in humans is the finding that having children makes people seemingly less satisfied and happy in life, during child rearing years. This blog discusses similar goals or ways of living that won't necessarily be good for us, but for some reason we have acquired and believe in. The difference is that these ways of living or ideas are determined as a result of cultural transmission. We learn them through our experiences in the world, rather than being born with them. In popular psychology and science they are also sometimes described as 'memes'.

Memes are numerous and all around us. An example of one that a significant proportion of people adhere to is the idea of 'a healthy body houses a healthy mind'. This is an idea or way by which we should live life that has been culturally transmitted. It's first appearance dates back to a philosopher/poet of ancient Rome (Juvenile). Thus, over the centuries, individuals have donned spandex and ran around quite a lot. This turns out to be a pretty accurate meme. Exercise is thought to be preventative in developing depression and as early as 1984, McCann & Davis reported findings from a large scale clinical trial that indicated enrolling in intensive exercise classes can be rather useful in combating depression.

But there are of course memes aren't always entirely accurate. A good example is the idea that eating lots of fruit will reduce the risk of you catching flu, because of all the lovely vitamin C inside of it. For the royal college of GP's, Joshi (2007) reviewed studies involving around 11, 000 participants and the data indicated that regular consumption of vitamin C had no effect on common flu incidence. What was found was that a large daily dose of vitamin C could have a very small effect on the length of a cold once you've got one, but it certainly doesn't look like it can prevent flu and nor is it a cure.

The vitamin C is a good example, because many common beliefs about illness and health are confused or just complete rubbish (carrots and night vision for example). But are these really a problem? Unless you are paying big money for vitamin C, these probably aren't real problems for people like me. There are some terrible reports from Swaziland concerning a belief that blood or body parts coming from an albino person can cure HIV. This is a super bad meme; both in terms of its accurateness and effect it has had on innocent people who happen to lack skin pigment. This blog will instead talk about one meme that we, as well off middle class and educated white westerners are more likely to come across in life. My main focus is modern day religion.

The problems with most modern day religions are numerous. First of all; which to choose? They can't all be right, and some of the practises in one directly disobey practises of others. Secondly, things often don't addup. Catholicism and Christianity adhere to the gospel and although it is a lovely little book, it doesn't match up to reality. We know a fair amount about our past in terms of the age of the Universe and earth and there also appears to be strong evidence for an evolutionary account in explaining how we got to where we are today. Unless somebody made a lot of copying and pasting errors, the bible is just wrong on many things; the age of the earth is ridiculously wide of the mark. Nor can it account for evolution. Furthermore, should we base our entire lives on a collection of stories that were written by numerous different authors, at different points and such a long time ago? How do we know it is accurate? What we do know is that a lot of it is inaccurate.

There are many arguments as to why you should believe in a god or somekind of higher transcendence and I am still to come across a good one. You will sometimes hear 'how could there be so much beauty without a creator?' as an argument. One obvious reply is how can there be so much misery and pain? Another is that things happen by chance, but us humans don't much seem to like the idea of chance and randomness. Occasionally the condensation on my window makes a pretty picture. I rarely find myself wondering how could something so beautiful occur without a creator.

If people really want to be religious regardless then fair enough. There is good reason probably. Religion can give structure and meaning in life. These are the types of things that make people happy. Religion can also help us avoid worrying questions about what happens after death. Religion often results in strong social networks and support groups, which are again useful. Yet, if one thinks about things rationally and not driven by 'faith' then there is surely only one real answer to whether any of the modern day religions stand up to the test. Religion is a 'bad' meme in the sense that it's fundamental preachings are very unlikely to be true. In many ways religion does possess strong and valiant messages; love thy neighbour, be a good Samaritan and so on. Generally speaking these are 'good'. But do we need religion to lead prosperous, satisfying and 'good' lives? I think we don't and I also think living ones life to a lie feels wrong.

Most religions instruct us to live our lives in certain ways. Catholicism hasn't liked condoms for a very long time and condemned the use of them. Catholicism was and is quite widespread in Africa. As is HIV. The bible directly promotes homophobia - "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death.". Jewish religious law prohibits eating of a whole host of foods. Sausages taste nice. My mother remembers moments of her childhood when she couldn't sleep at night because she was struck with worry that her father wouldn't get into heaven, as he didn't attend church on a Sunday regularly. This is a bit cute, but still wrong. There are enough real worries in the world we have to tackle. The list of laws by which religions instruct people the correct and incorrect ways to live are endless.

Thus, religion really is the super meme. What it promises and preaches just isn't accurate. Attending church services regularly increases the chance of eternal life to a similar degree to regular attendance of neo-nazi white power rallies. One might argue that unless religious people are less happy than non religious people, then it isn't a bad meme after all. But living ones life by what seems most likely to be a lie doesn't seem right. Truth feels important in life.

Although religion probably helps to provides strong social support and structure and meaning in some cases, these can be achieved elsewhere in pursuits that aren't shrouded in falsehoods. One can find social support and make close friends though a shared interest for example. One can find meaning through belief in their job. If one loves teaching or caring for others, then one can form meaning and value in life from the belief that what they are doing is inherently right. Furthermore, education and nursing don't condone homophobia and don't arbitrarily denounce all manner of other seemingly inoffensive behaviours.

If the ideas in this blog are interesting, then I think it is because they introduce the idea of the meme and might make us think more carefully about what we do and don't subscribe to in life. As the study of human behaviour and emotions, psychology should be able to highlight what memes may let us down, so to speak. For example, the meme that lots of money will make us happier in life is very questionable (http://psychologyshared.blogspot.com/2010/09/show-me-money.html), but is nevertheless believed by some and will shape the way those people choose to lead their lives, maybe for the worse. So how can one spot a meme? A lot of memes sound fairly convincing and perhaps because of this they are even more likely to be believed; as one feels less compelled to test or question their credibility. Careful evaluation and consulting science when possible (now highly accessible on the web), would seem like good places to start.