Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id AAA24694 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 19 Apr 2002 00:34:36 +0100 From: "Richard Brodie" <richard@brodietech.com> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Thoughts and Perceptions Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 16:29:04 -0700 Message-ID: <JJEIIFOCALCJKOFDFAHBKEJFELAA.richard@brodietech.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2911.0) Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 In-Reply-To: <797FD3D0-5312-11D6-A1A2-003065B9A95A@harvard.edu> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Wade wrote:
<<As for truth making a meme more fit, Richard has a very good take on
that, and, as I'm sure he'll agree, it's a fallacy at best....>>
I think Dennett's idea of "Good Tricks" is the midway in this carnival
sideshow we're having. Some concepts are so naturally developed from the
nature of reality that we cannot help but form them eventually. While they
can still be transmitted memetically to be sure (after all, didn't we all
learn about Newton's Laws in school?), they are so clearly true that we call
them "discoveries."
As Wade says, though, truth is not a prime selector for memetic
transmission. When ideas get only one step removed from a place where we can
test them easily, all the other forces of memetic selection begin to
operate: danger, opportunity, ease of understanding... all these transform
ideas as they are communicated like the children's game of telephone
(Chinese whispers for you Brits).
Richard Brodie
www.memecentral.com
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