Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id QAA20092 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 16 May 2000 16:44:33 +0100 Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D31CEB19E@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Central questions of memetics Date: Tue, 16 May 2000 15:05:04 +0100 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
cricket came first, and baseball is based on the British game 'rounders'
whatever the "official" history of baseball says :-)
> ----------
> From: Wade T.Smith
> Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2000 1:38 am
> To: Memetics Discussion List
> Subject: Re: Central questions of memetics
>
> Chuck Palson made this comment not too long ago --
>
> >Except for one thing - they cannot
> >exist for long when they are no longer useful - as the second part of the
> >statement seems to imply.
>
> This is something we've been batting back and forth here- and let's take
> a look at that bat, while we have it in our hands.
>
> It is an artifact, yes, and moreover, one with a specific and particular
> purpose- to propel a thrown baseball in a game with the same name. (For
> the benefit of our anglophiles, I will give a small nod to the bat used
> in their peculiar variety of this game named after a loud insect.)
>
> But, the 'baseballbat'-ness of this artifact is tenuous, and culturally
> situated.
>
> When the bat is all alone, where is baseball?
>
> When a game gets resurrected (or begun anew) that needs a bat to play, is
> there a need to remember or get the old bat?
>
> Things come and go- the utility of a thing is part of the logic of its
> formation, but the game it plays is memetic/cultural, and _this_ is where
> the repetition comes in.
>
> But can a meme exist- can that baseballbat exist- without the game it's
> used for?
>
> Good question. And I ain't sure.
>
> - Wade
>
> ===============================================================
> This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
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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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