Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id VAA05710 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sun, 23 Jan 2000 21:52:53 GMT To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 13:25:07 -0800 From: "Scott Chase" <hemidactylus@my-Deja.com> Message-ID: <MIDEKAHEGECFGBAA@my-deja.com> X-Sent-Mail: off X-Mailer: MailCity Service Subject: Re: Re:Morphogenetic fields and memes X-Sender-Ip: 209.240.200.51 Organization: My Deja Email (http://www.my-deja.com:80) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Language: en Content-Length: 3077 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
--On Sun, 23 Jan 2000 21:58:31 Kenneth Van Oost wrote: >On Sunday,23 jan 2000 13.50 Scott Chase wrote: >" Morphic resonance is a parapsychological geist factor and we must not confuse >morphogenetic fields with morphic resonance." I do NOT!! >More off as I pointed it out,meme-complexes are in some extend comparable with >morphogenetic fields_as selfstabilising structures which resists attempts to be >takin' over from other memes/fields by creating conditions of belief (memes) and by >transmission of learned systems into habitual traits. >The unit/vector/agent or field in which meme-complexes then are the building blocks,responsible for the characteristic form/acceptable facts/behaviours or the >admissible organisation of cultural/political/biological meme-structures,on each >level of complexity/validity and usefullness,belongs to preceding thereupon suppor- >ting structures/meme-complexes:-the build up is organised upon the sort of self- >replicated information (imitation if you like) of past meme-complexes for each >suchlike idea/argumant/belief or task;the influence of previous structures of activity >is called morphic resonance_how bigger the degree of similarity (or copy fidelity), >how greater the influence of morphic resonance (or how great the possibilty of the >memes to propagate becomes). >To my view,meme-complexes are morphogenetic (information) fields which shape >order by/participates in structures with which they are or will be connected (by >morphic resonance if you like) by influencin' events/ideas/arguments/organisations, >which are_from a human perspective,as really experienced/felt/alive to see;they >lay upon the genetic/psychological possible results of natural,selective and com- >plex processes a distinctive pattern.There is in some sense a group of cells awai- >ting to be subdivided in subsequent development-issues. > IMO neither memes nor morphogenetic fields need to be saddled with the superfluous morphic resonance. What irks me most is that I've noticed a tendency for some to attribute morphogenetic fields to Sheldrake. I'm no expert on the fields by any stretch of the imagination, but I've read enough for Sheldrake to get my dander up by his affixing of morphic resonance to the fields. Like memes, the fields are difficult to pin down and their manner of invocation may depend on the author, but they are a valuable conceptual tool. OTOH I can't see Sheldrake's ideas casting much light on either cultural evolution or morphogenesis.
Like I implied before though, morphic resonance might be interesting in a memetic sense as far as unraveling why so many people have an affinity for Sheldrake's ideas. There does exist a sort of memetic overlap between some of Sheldrake's ideas and those of Carl Jung's. I first heard of Sheldrake from following Jungian discussion lists.
On a related front, does anyone know what Noetic science is and whether it should frighten me?
Scott
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