Abstract

WAIZBORT, Ricardo Francisco. The ideas and their vehicles: a meeting between Borges' fantastic literature, memetic. and evolutionary biology. Ciênc. cogn. [online]. 2010, vol.15, n.1, pp. 155-170. ISSN 1806-5821.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that poetic narrative deduced from some texts written by Jorge Luis Borges has a. affinity with memetics, both Borges and memetics assuming that ideas are entitie. having their own lives, occupying a central place in modeling the human mind. In order to achieve this goal, we will present some Borges narratives and in parallel presen. the so-called theory of memes or memetics. In the case of memetics, the theor. of evolution by natural selection associated with genetics establishes the basis t. consider ideas as entities analogous to genes. In order t. clarify this point we will present a version of Darwinism in addition to curren. genetics, and only then introduce the theory of memes. Specia. interest is the case of the Borges narrative "Funes, el memorioso" in which the neurologis. Oliver Sacks, identifies in the protagonist, Funes, a cognitive disorder. Bu. in our argument, such a tale will serve as the basis for query that Funes is . man without ideas, (a zero-memes man), other characters and storie. represent imprisoning ideas,, especially monomania. Unlike traditional interpretations establishing tha. Borges encouraging the idea that knowledge and science are merel. a language illusion, we will defend that Borges understands very well the concept of idea. (including scientific ideas) lead us to destruction, but ma. help us to free ourselves from natural prisons or other mazes which w. have created, either consciously or unconsciously. © Cien. Cogn. 2010; Vol. 15 (1): 155-170

Keywords : Borges; meme; gene; mind; free will; evolution.

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