Memetics and neural models of conspiracy theories

Abstract

Memetics has so far been developing in social sciences, but to fully understand memetic processes it should be linked to neuroscience models of learning, encoding, and retrieval of memories in the brain. Attractor neural networks show how incoming information is encoded in memory patterns, how it may become distorted, and how chunks of information may form patterns that are activated by many cues, forming the foundation of conspiracy theories. The rapid freezing of high neuroplasticity (RFHN) model is offered as one plausible mechanism of such processes. Illustrations of distorted memory formation based on simulations of competitive learning neural networks are presented as an example. Linking memes to attractors of neurodynamics should help to give memetics solid foundations, show why some information is easily encoded and propagated, and draw attention to the need to analyze neural mechanisms of learning and memory that lead to conspiracies.

Concept Representation and the Geometric Model of Mind

“…Experiences become memories and contribute to the semantics of concepts (Heusser, Fitzpatrick and Manning 2021). Combining dynamic and static aspects helps to understand the influence of media, viral events, the spreading of memes, and the formation of conspiracy theories Concept Representation and the Geometric Model of Mind (Duch 2021). New concepts may increase or decrease the order of conceptual networks, either individual or common to social groups, a phenomenon that requires more attention and simulations in neural networks (Hutchins 2012).…”