To put a spin on the old Zen koan about dogs having the Buddha nature, I've
been wondering:
Does a dog have meme-nature?
This actually is a serious question I have concerning the parameters of
memetics. If you think dogs do host memes, what role or distinction do we
then assign to higher cognition in the hosting of memetic processes? That is
to say, are human-host memes just a different species of meme than dog-host
memes, only with substantially higher dynamics given what their more highly
evolved host can provide by way of replication potential?
Certainly, dogs learn behavior and adapt to their surroundings through
experience, but are these actually memes? If "bury the bone" is a meme...?
And feel free to replace "dog" with "chimpanzee"...
(ah.... I can see the theoretical cleavages on the horizon... "Strong
Memetics" versus "Weak Memetics")
Brad