Symbiosism, Symbiomism and the perils of memetic management

Abstract

Symbiosis is a widespread phenomenon in the living world that has been recognised for about as long as natural selection has been. Most multicellular life forms arose ontogenetically as symbiomes. Language too is an organism which arose as a semiotic symbiont within the hominid brain. The etymology of the term meme and a number of competing definitions thereof as the unit of selection in cultural evolution are explained. A concise exposition of Symbiosism and Symbiomism is provided, distilled from previous writings. The perils of memetic management are discussed, and the desirability and necessity of memetic management are called into question.