Mutations in Nature and Culture Essay -- Exploratory Essays Research P

Mutations in Nature and CultureMany other vocalizes, both positive and negative, spring to mind when atomic number 53 hears the word mutation. In a scientific sense, one might think of the random variations that lead to evolution in species. In a sci-fi/ horror flick sense, one might think of a vicious monster that after contact with some radioactive substance became terribly disfigured. But rarely do we interrelate mutations with ideas pervasive to our culture. Daniel Dennett suggests that memes undergo a certain kind of mutation that is inherent to the creative evolution of culture.The most important distinction to be made surrounded by mutation as it applies to biological evolution, and how it applies to creative evolution is the function of randomness. In nature, random variation is the cause of mutation, and therefore the appearance of different traits. In the propagation of ideas, the role of randomness is not so easy to pinpoint. On the one hand, it seems that creative id eas are generated through patterns of associationDuring creative thought, memes potentially relevant to a solution would evoke or activate one another, altering or strategically (though not necessarily consciously) manipulating them... (Gabora 1)Yet, there is no predictability to these associations, and furthermore, The very creativity and body process of human minds as temporary homes for memes seems to guarantee that lines of descent are hopelessly muddled, and that phenotypes (the body designs of memes) change so fast that theres no keeping track... (Dennett 355) So by chance what we would call randomness as it plays out in the evolution of species is really taken over by an element of disorganization in creative forces. Dennett cites Stephen J... ...sually mortal or detrimental to the organism in which it occurs. However, mutations are creativitys greatest asset at one time, the great removal from more traditional realist art that impressionism comprise seemed detrimental t o the world of painting. The result was the beautiful addition of artists like Monet and Degas to the sphere of art. Whether one chooses to include impressionism in his or her organization of art annals is dependent upon the thinker, but one cannot deny that creative mutation is ultimately beneficial to culture.Works CitedDennett, Daniel C. Darwins Dangerous Idea organic evolution and the Meanings of Life. New York Touchstone, 1996.Gabora, Liane. The Origin and Evolution of Culture and Creativity. Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission, 1. 1997. Available http//jom-emit.cfpm.org/1997/vol1/gabora_l.html