Editing Daniel Dennett (section)

===Memetics, postmodernism and deepity===
Dennett wrote about and advocated the notion of [[memetics]] as a philosophically useful tool, his last work on this topic being his "Brains, Computers, and Minds", a three-part presentation through Harvard's MBB 2009 Distinguished Lecture Series.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Dennett was critical of [[postmodernism]], having said: {{blockquote|Postmodernism, the school of "thought" that proclaimed "There are no truths, only interpretations" has largely played itself out in absurdity, but it has left behind a generation of academics in the humanities disabled by their distrust of the very idea of truth and their disrespect for evidence, settling for "conversations" in which nobody is wrong and nothing can be confirmed, only asserted with whatever style you can muster.<ref>Dennett, Daniel (October 19, 2013). [http://edge.org/conversation/dennett-on-wieseltier-v-pinker-in-the-new-republic "Dennett on Wieseltier V. Pinker in The New Republic: Let's Start With A Respect For Truth."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805021650/https://www.edge.org/conversation/dennett-on-wieseltier-v-pinker-in-the-new-republic |date=August 5, 2018 }}  ''Edge.org''.  Retrieved August 4, 2018.</ref>}}

Dennett adopted and somewhat redefined the term "deepity", originally coined by Miriam Weizenbaum.<ref>Dennett, Daniel. ''Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking''. W. W. Norton & Company, 2013 p. 56.{{ISBN?}}</ref> Dennett used "deepity" for a statement that is apparently profound, but is actually trivial on one level and meaningless on another. Generally, a deepity has two (or more) meanings: one that is true but trivial, and another that sounds profound and would be important if true, but is actually false or meaningless. Examples are "Que será será!", "Beauty is only skin deep!", "The power of intention can transform your life."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/25/change-your-life-life-deepities-oliver-burkeman |title=This column will change your life: deepities – 'A deepity isn't just any old pseudo-profound bit of drivel. It's a specific kind of statement that can be read in two different ways...' |newspaper=The Guardian |date=25 May 2013 |author=Oliver Burkeman |access-date=6 February 2016 |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116104544/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/may/25/change-your-life-life-deepities-oliver-burkeman |url-status=live }}</ref> The term [[Wikt:Citations:deepity#English|has been cited]] many times.