Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id TAA28748 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 24 Feb 2000 19:57:29 GMT Message-Id: <200002241956.OAA07014@mail3.lig.bellsouth.net> From: "Joe E. Dees" <joedees@bellsouth.net> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 13:59:58 -0600 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Re: Monkeys stone herdsman in Kenya In-reply-to: <B0000214554@htcompmail.htcomp.net> References: <200002241901.OAA15852@mail2.lig.bellsouth.net> X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Date sent: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 14:39:55 -0500
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: "Mark M. Mills" <mmills@htcomp.net>
Subject: Re: Monkeys stone herdsman in Kenya
Send reply to: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Joe,
>
> At 01:03 PM 2/24/00 -0600, you wrote:
> >What species of monkeys were these?
>
> The article does not say. Apparently, the herdsmen forgot to say what kind
> of monkey attacked them. The article says that baboons are known to throw
> things, though.
>
> Mark
>
To throw unmodified objects does not approach the threshhold of
tool use, although it is at the beginning of the appropriation
and implementation of the physical environment as an aid to bare
bodily activity.. That they co-operated in such an action is not
necessarily an example of memetics; wolf packs cooperate in
serially chasing down prey. Cooperation can be genetically
encoded. The Japanese example of potato-washing monkeys, as
a modification undertaken prior to consumption (they did not do so
originally, but once a female began and taught the behavior to her
young, the practice spread) seems more problematic, and may
indeed involve proto-memetic behavior, but there is no variation - all
potato-washing is done in the same manner.. The first solid
evidence of memetic behavior of which I am aware occurs within
chimpanzees; they strip the leaves off twigs to insert them into
termite mounds, then lick off the termites which cling to the
invading sticks. This seems to have a memetic component,
because not only is the implement modified, but the stripping style
varies from troupe to troupe.
>
> ===============================================================
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>
>
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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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