What is a meme? First coined by Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene, a meme is any idea, behavior, or skill that can be transferred from one person to another by imitation: stories, fashions, inventions, recipes, songs, ways of plowing a field or throwing a baseball or making a sculpture. The meme is also one of the most important--and controversial--concepts to emerge since The Origin of the Species appeared nearly 150 years ago.
In The Meme Machine Susan Blackmore boldly asserts: "Just as the design of our bodies can be understood only in terms of natural selection, so the design of our...

Opinion has long been divided over Near-Death Experiences, or NDEs, some presenting them as evidence for the existence of the soul and life after death, others arguing that they are merely the chemical and physiological products of a dying brain. Susan Blackmore has interviewed many people who claim to have had NDEs, and after researching hundreds of case histories she offers an absorbing and detailed review of this fascinating and controversial phenomenon. While presenting clear physical explanations for the changes that take place within the brain, Blackmore argues that true spiritual...