On Genes and Memes

At some point in our species’ evolutionary history, gene replication (biological knowledge) became less important than meme replication (cultural knowledge) to guarantee our survival. Since that time, we have not really evolved biologically. Our bodies are still the same bodies that our ancestors had hundreds of thousands of years ago. In many ways, however, meme replication had proceeded contrary to our biological needs. Scientists call this phenomenon “evolutionary mismatch“. From diet and exercise to sitting and defecation positions to how we raise our children and how society is governed, evolutionary mismatch has been responsible for a host of problems plaguing humanity. When we recognize the problems caused by evolutionary mismatch and fix them, our needs are better met and our lives improve. Just some food for thought, and today’s two cents.