NancyLebovitz comments on Rebelling Within Nature - Less Wrong

23 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 13 July 2008 12:32PM

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Comment author: NancyLebovitz 24 October 2010 01:08:16PM 1 point [-]

I don't think that we have any memetic emotions - I could be wrong but it's a scary thought. Memes exist in a framework determined by evolved brains; see Tooby and Cosmides's "The Psychological Foundations of Culture". I had thought I discussed this in the course of tracing back morals through arguments that appealed to built-in emotions.

I'm not sure what you mean by a memetic emotion, but as I understand the phrase, they're quite common. They're a lot of why people go to sporting events and concerts-- they want to be caught up in a group emotion.

Comment author: Perplexed 24 October 2010 04:13:48PM 4 points [-]

I think that EY is claiming that there are only so many hormones and neurotransmitters, and that they are all "built in" by evolution. You seem to be claiming that we (memetically) learn to trigger these emotions using novel stimuli.

But as to EY's claim: Is Viagra a memetic emotion? Cocaine? Zoloft? Ethanol? Sniffed glue?