Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id TAA08088 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 13 Mar 2002 19:35:08 GMT X-Originating-IP: [194.117.133.84] User-Agent: Microsoft-Outlook-Express-Macintosh-Edition/5.0.3 Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 19:27:03 +0000 Subject: Re: Cultural traits and vulnerability to memes From: Steve Drew <srdrew_1@hotmail.com> To: Jom-emit <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Message-ID: <B8B55886.314%srdrew_1@hotmail.com> Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-OriginalArrivalTime: 13 Mar 2002 19:29:10.0246 (UTC) FILETIME=[5986D060:01C1CAC5] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Hi Wade,
> Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 18:32:43 -0500
> From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
> Subject: Re: Cultural traits and vulnerability to memes
>
> Hi Steve Drew -
>
>>> Hardwiring is not a defense against variance.
>>
>> Yes it is. It works or it doesn't.
>
> Hmm. I more meant to mean- you can't use variety in behaviors to deny
> hardwiring.
I certainly don't deny hard wiring.
>
>> Discovering nothing can still be of value.
>
> Somewhere I saw another quote about that essence of science, and yes, it
> certainly is and can.
>
>>> And evolution is a system of developing hardwiring.
Not sure i follow this. I tend to consider that evolution doesn't do any
thing as such. It is just a shorthand way of describing a number of factors
that operate on living creatures.
>>
>> It can be, that's why species go extinct. Too ossified to change.
>
> And I more meant to mean, evolution is a system of presenting the
> hardware.
>
> Memetics is generally one of the developments in thought that we've
> needed once we figured out, if we have figured out, that homo sapiens
> doesn't really do instinct any more. Or else we do and we're just too
> close to it to see it that way. We'd all like to see the report of an
> extraterrestial ethnographer. Well, as long as it wasn't a clam....
>
> - - Wade
I think what you may mean is that we do instinctive things, unless we think
otherwise. A choice between reacting and acting the difference being the non
thinking on the one hand, and thinking on the other.
Regards
Steve
===============================================================
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 archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Mar 13 2002 - 19:45:37 GMT