Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id AAA02591 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sat, 13 May 2000 00:25:11 +0100 Date: Fri, 12 May 2000 19:23:14 -0400 From: Robert Logan <logan@physics.utoronto.ca> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Useless memes In-Reply-To: <B6E47FBD3879D31192AD009027AC929C3688D0@NWTH-EXCHANGE> Message-ID: <Pine.SGI.4.10.10005121921510.9932482-100000@helios.physics.utoronto.ca> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Marshall McLuhan use to say that the best form of communication in the
electric age was the one liner. Sorry I used so many words to say that :-)
Bob Logan
On Fri, 12 May 2000, Bruce Jones wrote:
> IMHO sayings such as "Which came first ... ", "Best laid plans ..", "Don't
> throw out the baby with the bath water.", etc. catch on because they convey
> complex meanings with the fewest number of words.
>
> Science fiction author Robert Heinlein, in one of his books stated
> (paraphrasing here) the "fewer the better". He felt that if a statement
> took five words to say it was too long if three could say the same thing.
> His example was a common saying though rather scatological so I will just
> give the short version ... you will recognize the longer one; "Defecate or
> Abdicate". The meaning comes across as the same. So instead of spouting a
> long monologue of, "If you aren't going to be productive or follow through
> with jobs and tasks that you start, or if you are going to make statements
> and promises you can't back up with actions .... get out, move over, leave
> and let some one else finish or do the job."
>
> In the chicken/egg scenario: the general meaning of cause and effect about a
> given subject can be summed up rather quickly without a thesis.
>
> SO sayings that convey major philosophical or functional objectives catch
> hold and become part of the everyday lexicon. These types of sayings do fit
> into a definition of memes. I feel they are functional and are self
> serving. These might be called eie-prime memes because they are universal
> and express a social functionality.
>
> Bruce
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Wade T.Smith [SMTP:wade_smith@harvard.edu]
> > Sent: Friday, May 12, 2000 7:41 AM
> > To: memetics list
> > Subject: Useless memes
> >
> > On 05/12/00 08:02, Vincent Campbell said this-
> >
> > >Mine answer to the question itself would be that eggs came first, because
> > >eggs appeared before chickens evolved. Why it persists? Well I don't
> > know-
> > >another useless meme?
> >
> > Well, of course the egg came first, because, and here's the rub, chickens
> > use sexual reproduction- therefore the chicken is never the same as the
> > egg.
> >
> > Which brings us to why the conundrum remains a conundrum- it's all about
> > sex, the first hinge of all meaning.
> >
> > - Wade
> >
> > ===============================================================
> > 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 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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