Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id XAA08207 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 18 Feb 2002 23:57:15 GMT Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 18:52:01 -0500 Subject: Re: Re: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In-Reply-To: <B8972583.150%srdrew_1@hotmail.com> Message-Id: <80F45B96-24CA-11D6-A677-003065B9A95A@harvard.edu> X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.480) Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Monday, February 18, 2002, at 05:34 , Steve Drew wrote:
> Memes as behaviour can be reduced to automatic responses as Susan
> Blackmore
> tried to do.
Memes as behaviors no- behaviors practiced and reduced to habit,
perhaps. I would say the memetic content of such behaviors is vestigial,
at best.
> So i equate
> the idea of a behaviour as valid as that of the behaviour itself, the
> the
> fidelity may not be as good.
And there's were it gets tricky, because you have an idea and an
intention, and you have a body and a cultural stage upon which to
perform your meme so that as much of the idea and intention get
transmitted. (The urge's semantic imperative, if you will.)
However, there are no guarantees that either the idea, or the intent, or
both, will be successfully perceived.
Indeed, what was the idea and intent of the Ford Motor company about the
Edsel? What was perceived? What do we know about the Edsel today? I'm
sure there are other, even more blatant examples
So, as far as both the idea and the intent are imperfect and tied
directly to their performance, IMHO, the performance, and only the
performance, can be called a meme.
The rest is genetically, culturally, and process-driven within the human
doing the performance, part of the evolutionary being the human has been
selected for. The performance is the only unique thing on this stage.
- Wade
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