Re: Piaget on the phenocopy

From: John Wilkins (wilkins@wehi.EDU.AU)
Date: Sun Feb 20 2000 - 01:37:56 GMT

  • Next message: John Wilkins: "Re: Piaget on the phenocopy"

    Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id BAA17081 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sun, 20 Feb 2000 01:39:35 GMT
    Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 12:37:56 +1100 (EST)
    From: John Wilkins <wilkins@wehi.EDU.AU>
    To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
    Subject: Re: Piaget on the phenocopy
    In-Reply-To: <EOHBALOFODCKOBAA@my-deja.com>
    Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.05.10002201236350.1654-100000@wehiz.wehi.EDU.AU>
    Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
    Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk
    Precedence: bulk
    Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
    

    AFAIK phneocopy is Goldschmidt's term, adopted and popularised by
    Waddington. I recently read a volume of Wadd's essays and I recall him
    attributing the term to RG.

    [Johnny boy? No one's called me that in 30 years]

    John Wilkins
    Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
    Sending from home on (ugh) pine

    On Sat, 19 Feb 2000, Scott Chase wrote:

    > Alas, I didn't suffer from a case of brain farting (neural flatulence is the formal scientific term I believe). In Piaget's words (1980, p. 13):
    >
    > (bq) "This scheme leads us, of course, towards problems of psychology and epistemology, and away from biology. It is comforting to note, however, that the same direction was taken by the discoverer of organic selection and the phenocopy: J.M. Baldwin, after his article of 1896 on the effect which now bears his name, went on to become a great psychologist" (eq)
    >
    > I'm not sure whether this was an attribution of phenocopy to Baldwin or whether it was one of those retrospective acknowledgements. I do recall Goldschmidt (the hopeful monster guy) using the term anyway, but its been some time since I've read any of his stuff too. Oh well. Maybe Wilkins can add his immense mnemon store to this topic. Are you there Johnny boy? ;-)
    >
    > ref:
    >
    > Piaget J. 1980. Adaptation and Intelligence: Organic Selection and Phenocopy. University of Chicago Press. Chicago (translated by Stewart Eames)
    >
    > The translation part brings me to another sticking point I've pondered wrt the history of ideas. If I'm reading some work by Jung, Semon or Piaget or anyone else which has been translated by others for my lazy English speaking self, I'm not really reading their words *per se*. Could this lead to memetic (or idea) variation of any kind, since the book isn't actually first hand from the author's own mouth?
    >
    > Scott
    >
    >
    >
    >
    > --== Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ ==--
    > Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
    >
    > ===============================================================
    > 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
    >
    >

    ===============================================================
    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



    This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Feb 20 2000 - 01:39:40 GMT