Biography

Kate Distin is an independent scholar based in England.

She read History and Philosophy of Science at Clare College, Cambridge University, where her final year dissertation, prepared under the supervision of the late Peter Lipton, concerned the relationship between mind and brain.

From there, after a brief and risibly inappropriate attempt to train as a chartered accountant, Kate went on to join the Philosophy Department at Sheffield University. Under the supervision of George Botterill and Peter Carruthers, she completed her doctoral thesis, Mental Evolution.

Since leaving Sheffield Kate has qualified as a teacher and spent some time teaching both Religious Education and Philosophy in secondary schools. Her interest in memes persisted, however, and eventually The Selfish Meme emerged from the ideas in her original doctoral thesis.

Kate has also spent several years as a volunteer counsellor for the National Association for Gifted Children, and since leaving the Association she has edited and co-written a book about the needs of gifted children and their families.

In recent years, her interest in cultural evolution was revived, and has broadened to produce a book that explains human cultural evolution as the product of our capacity for natural and artefactual languages.

When she's not researching and thinking about cultural evolution, Kate works part-time as the Fosse Deanery Coordinator for Children's Work and Faith Development.