Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id FAA06921 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 10 May 2002 05:33:45 +0100 X-Originating-IP: [67.25.94.102] From: "Grant Callaghan" <grantc4@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: RE: Fw: future language Date: Thu, 09 May 2002 21:28:05 -0700 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <LAW2-F23vWvqzAoa2JB00013486@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 10 May 2002 04:28:06.0023 (UTC) FILETIME=[14B29170:01C1F7DB] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>Subject: RE: Fw: future language
>Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 21:04:52 -0400
>
>Greetings, Grant,
>
>Do you see globalization -- the increasing mixing of people in work,
>residence and mating -- as diminishing the distinctions that separate
>people
>along the lines you describe?
>
>Lawrence
>
Hi Lawrence,
I see the current distinctions diminishing to some degree but new
distinctions taking their place. I see the connected feeling superior to
the disconnected. The augmented feeling superior to the unaugmented. And
people who have designer genes for superior intelligence and superior
strength looking down on what they think of as lesser mortals. At the same
time, the people who worship man as "God" made him will no doubt feel
superior to the "mosters" created by new technologies of machine and gene.
In other words, people will still do what people have always done, but for
new reasons and with new rationalizations to support their points of view.
I think the Muslims will be in the forefront of people designed by God and
opposed to people designed by scientists. The Jews may be their brothers in
this for the same basic reasons. But by that time, the rapid pace of change
may make prediction impossible and who knows what chaos will produce in the
interim?
Cheers,
Grant
> > I think there is a lot of misunderstanding about the use of the
> > term racism.
> > People of different cultures have natural preferences that
> > favor their own
> > culture that have nothing to do with race and everything to do with the
> > memes they have inherited in the form of language and religion and who
>is
> > good and who is bad. People who don't understand our language
> > and customs
> > are thought of as barbarians in almost every culture I have
> > encountrered in
> > the world. But from a racial point of view, what are the racially
> > distinguishing features of protestants and Catholics in Northern
> > Ireland?
> > What racial features separate Serbs and Croats? How are the Flemmish
> > racially different from the French? And yet you have the same
> > hatreds and
> > prejudice between each of these groups as you have between black
> > and white
> > or Asian and black. The mainstream Japanese are prejudiced against the
> > Ainu, the Hindu is prejudiced against the Muslim, and the Hindus
> > themselves
> > are diveded into castes that act toward each other the same way
> > whites act
> > toward blacks in South Africa. People will always find ways to look
>down
> > their noses at other groups and divide themselves into people and
> > barbarians. It is a fact of human nature and I have no doubt that it is
> > genetically built into us because it is so universal among the
> > human race.
> > I don't know of a single culture that doesn't have some other
> > culture it can
> > look down upon. And usually, race has little or nothing to do with the
> > feeling. Culture is by far the most divisive feature of war and
> > separation.
> > We often refer to that as racism, but it's not. It's cultural
>division
> > and plain old human nature and not likely to be legislated out of
> > existence.
> >
> > Grant
>
>
>===============================================================
>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
>
Grant
The means you use shape the ends you get.
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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
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