I don’t think there’s much debate about this. Everyone agrees that there’s more design in cultural evolution than there has been in organic evolution so far—though this may well change, as organic evolution tries to catch up. Of course some designers at work doesn’t obviate the need for Darwinian evolutionary theory. The products of design are naturally selected, just like everything else. For example, in VHS vs Beetamax, consumer selection played a critical role in determining what we see.
One other thing to be aware of is that there’s copying, selection and variation within the brain too (e.g. see: William H. Calvin, “The brain as a Darwin Machine” 1987). It’s rather like how viruses multiply within bodies—as well as having a transmission phase where they spread between bodies. Within the mind, there’s an awful lot of trial-and-error—taking place at a low level. If you only look at the results of that process, then it seems smart. However at root, the process takes place at the level of neurons—where there isn’t too much scope for an intelligent designer.
So: even if you think memes are intelligently designed, they were still produced by an evolutionary process—one going on inside an individual mind.
I don’t think there’s much debate about this. Everyone agrees that there’s more design in cultural evolution than there has been in organic evolution so far—though this may well change, as organic evolution tries to catch up. Of course some designers at work doesn’t obviate the need for Darwinian evolutionary theory. The products of design are naturally selected, just like everything else. For example, in VHS vs Beetamax, consumer selection played a critical role in determining what we see.
One other thing to be aware of is that there’s copying, selection and variation within the brain too (e.g. see: William H. Calvin, “The brain as a Darwin Machine” 1987). It’s rather like how viruses multiply within bodies—as well as having a transmission phase where they spread between bodies. Within the mind, there’s an awful lot of trial-and-error—taking place at a low level. If you only look at the results of that process, then it seems smart. However at root, the process takes place at the level of neurons—where there isn’t too much scope for an intelligent designer.
So: even if you think memes are intelligently designed, they were still produced by an evolutionary process—one going on inside an individual mind.