Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id VAA23454 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 22 Feb 2000 21:16:57 GMT Message-Id: <200002222117.QAA11022@mail1.lig.bellsouth.net> From: "Joe E. Dees" <joedees@bellsouth.net> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 15:19:17 -0600 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: RE: What are memes made of? In-reply-to: <00022216221000.00473@faichney> X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Robin Faichney <robin@faichney.demon.co.uk>
Organization: Reborn Technology
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: RE: What are memes made of?
Date sent: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 16:16:06 +0000
Send reply to: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> On Tue, 22 Feb 2000, Richard Brodie wrote:
> >Joe wrote:
> >
> ><<When the imitation is mandated to occur only within critical periods
> >and is genetically tightly circumscribed as to scope and range,
> >yes. People may make up different word strings all their lives;
> >human languages are open-ended systems, capable of unlimited
> >possibilities for signification. Where's your proof that any species'
> >birdsong modifies outside the genetically mandated critical period,
> >or is capable in any case of any more than a tiny number of very
> >similar "variations"? >>
> >
> >To embellish this point slightly... in my mind the question is, does the
> >evolution of birdsong result in the formation of culture, which takes on a
> >life of its own independent of, but on the platform of, its genetic
> >heritage? That's when it would be memetics.
>
> Depends what you mean by "culture", of course. Some people think it only means
> stuff like opera. But the only strict and systematic definition I know,
> whereby information is passed between generations not only by genetics but
> also via learned behavioural patterns, clearly includes the relevant types of
> birdsong. The information that is learned, is the culture.
>
And what is the character of information learned, and the nature of
the culture created, if birdsong variations are bereft of differentiable
intention and meaning?
> --
> 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
>
>
===============================================================
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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