Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id DAA25066 (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 03:49:16 +0100 Message-ID: <002901c1e74b$0a39ad00$5e2ffea9@oemcomputer> From: "Philip Jonkers" <philipjonkers@prodigy.net> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <JJEIIFOCALCJKOFDFAHBKEJFELAA.richard@brodietech.com> Subject: Re: Thoughts and Perceptions Date: Thu, 18 Apr 2002 19:36:40 -0700 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
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Brodie" <richard@brodietech.com>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 4:29 PM
Subject: RE: Thoughts and Perceptions
> 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).
I agree, but would like to add: 'beauty/attractiveness'.
Phil.
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