Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA01353 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 14 Feb 2000 15:47:18 GMT From: Robin Faichney <robin@faichney.demon.co.uk> Organization: Reborn Technology To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: meaning in memetics Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 17:18:14 +0000 X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.0.21] Content-Type: text/plain References: <ECS10002091254A@imap.uea.ac.uk> Message-Id: <00021217261101.00510@faichney> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Wed, 09 Feb 2000, Soc. Lab. 2 wrote:
>Here's a quote from "Dennett and his Critics", from
>Dennett's replies p.230:
>
>"Above the biological level of brute belief and simple
>intentional icons, human beings have constructed a level
>that is composed of objects that are socially constructed,
>replicated, distributed, traded (etc). . . Dawkins has given
>us a generic name for these things - memes - and what I have
>called opinions are a species of memes: sentences on whose
>truth a person has, in effect, made a wager."
>
>now, if that ain't meaning maybe we are going to have to go
>back to the basics.
>
>To reiterate, Dennett sez that intentionalities are
>necessarily involved in memetics - intentionalities are (he
>thinks) the foundations from which we get meaning, and
>memetics is his theory of meaning. And whether you like it
>or not, Dennett is the Granddaddy of memetics right now.
Is memetics really Dennett's theory of meaning? Can you give me a citation on
that?
If Dennett really would stand on the claim that "intentionalities are
necessarily involved in memetics" then I'm sorry to have to say he's wrong. I
do know that he does not understand the difference between physical and
intentional information, because he said as much at the May 99 Cambridge
meeting, but given his work with Sue Blackmore, he should be familiar with the
argument as to the memetic nature of birdsong. Ah well, I guess maybe he's not
infallible after all.
-- Robin Faichney===============================This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing) see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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