Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id AAA28009 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sat, 9 Mar 2002 00:29:23 GMT Message-ID: <005601c1c708$98189c20$5e2ffea9@oemcomputer> From: "Philip Jonkers" <philipjonkers@prodigy.net> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <B8AECC0F.2CD%srdrew_1@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Example of an aggresive irrational meme Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 16:20:24 -0900 Organization: Prodigy Internet Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000 X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Phil:
> > In biology mutation together with sex defines one vital component of
natural
> > selection: variation.
> > The other two are: selection and retentive reproduction.
Steve:
> Fair enough. I just didn't think i needed to break it down that much to
make
> the point. I know some people have tried, not too convincingly to my mind,
> to bring the sex angle into memetics, but i think it is best left with
> biology. What would be an equivalant way for mutation to occur memetically
> if we removed the biological idea of sex?
I do think that memetical evolution has a sexual component. In biological
evolution
sex proved an excellent way to constitute high level of variation and to
disseminate useful genes (acquired through mutation) through the population.
The same thing
also happens in culture. Allow me to explain. In biology, gene-hosts
copulate to exchange
and disseminate good genes (compare sexual reproduction with its slow
alternative
asexual reproduction in which variation relies exclusively on the sporadic
mutation).
If you forget about the erotic connotations for a second, you may appreciate
that a
similar thing takes place in memetic evolution. In fact culture is one big
orgie and new
memes get born out of existing ones after a multitude of meme-hosts have put
their heads together.
Consider for instance the marriage between mathematics and physics:
mathematicians and
physicists combined make a great pair. Why? Together they make the clock
tick in science
as mathematics is the language needed by physicists which in turn stimulates
and triggers
new research in math. The offspring of their wedding have always turned out
to be
vital for scientific research.
You can even take it further and state that culture would not have reached
the level
it now has without memetic sex (the same goes for biology too).
Culture as an evolving entity is a collective enterprise of a group of
agents acting in unity.
Meme hosts constantly have cultural sex in order to produce new ideas,
strategies,
solutions to problems, theories, and what not. After all what are meetings
for?
It's just another orgie of memes.
Also memes have `sex' in your head too. There also memes interact with other
memes
to produce new ones. This is what abstract or creative thinking is all about
for instance.
There is where the parallel with biology ends of course.
Phil.
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