If you've ever wondered how and why people become robotically enslaved by advertising, religion, sexual fantasy, and cults, wonder no more. It's all because of "mind viruses," or "memes," and those who understand how to plant them into other's minds. This is the first truly accessible book about memes and how they make the world go 'round.
Of course, like all good memes, the ideas in Brodie's book are double-edged swords. They can vaccinate against the effects of cognitive viruses, but could also be used by those seeking power to gain it even more effectively. If you don't want to be left behind in the coevolutionary arms race between infection and protection, read about memes.
I recently finished this book and would recommend it to others interested in how language influences behaviors. Sure, there are many themes the book addresses, but my main focus was examining the connections between language manipulation and control of behavior.
If you've just read Dawkins' books such as The Selfish Gene or The Blind Watchmaker and think this might be a good follow up please think twice!
This is not a science book and reads much more like a self help book. There is a very low content/noise ratio as it delivers very few ideas, and then expounds upon the same ideas over and over again using every new metaphor or anecdote the author can imagine. I couldn't even finish it as I was bored to tears and eventually just felt completely patronized and then annoyed by the author's sloppy understanding of the science involved.
He repeatedly refers to natural selection as a "kludge" which shows a complete lack of understanding of Dawkins' material.
If you want a good laugh at Brodie's incompetence with even basic statistics use Amazon's Inside This Book feature to read the paragraph on page 173 that begins "Now let's get a handle on what it really means..." (you can also search on the number 6500 to find this page). Either the author is clueless, or the people on this island have 1-year lifespans.
Please be advised that this book does not take a cold calculated scientific approach at explaining memetics. Richard Brodie explains memes by recounting his personal discovery of memes, futhermore elaborating a fairly modest 'scientific' conclusion. I recommended this book to those merely curious about memetics. If you like 'guru-type' self help books you'll find that this book will suffice is explaining memes while expanding your consciousness. If you are looking for a scientific approach to memetics I would recommend Susan Blackmore's The Meme Machine.
