Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id SAA25465 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 23 Feb 2000 18:03:54 GMT From: Robin Faichney <robin@faichney.demon.co.uk> Organization: Reborn Technology To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: RE: What are memes made of? Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 17:10:30 +0000 X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.0.21] Content-Type: text/plain References: <MPKKLEBEDILIPBAA@my-deja.com> Message-Id: <00022317115601.00570@faichney> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Tue, 22 Feb 2000, Scott Chase wrote:
>On Tue, 22 Feb 2000 16:16:06 Robin Faichney wrote:
>>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.
>>
>>
>It's been quite a while since I've read about bird song, but if I'm not
>mistaken there is a difference between species regarding whether certain types
>of song are hardwired or learned. It seems to me that some birds have dialects,
>which reflects the capacity for regional variation. Other species might be more
>rigidly codified. Parrots and parakeets and other such birds are pretty good at
>mimicking their owners. I don't know whether certain developmental windows
>figure into the equation here. It might come down to a species by species
>consideration and not a generalization applicable to all birds as a group.
That's why I said "the relevant types of birdsong".
-- 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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