Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id JAA11619 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 16 May 2002 09:28:45 +0100 Message-ID: <18b201c1fcb3$5ebdb100$b62629d9@APATRICK2KLAPTOP> From: "Alan Patrick" <a.patrick@btinternet.com> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <LAW2-F80blZz02H67yR00010cbb@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: Memetic Influence on Evolution Date: Thu, 16 May 2002 04:26:25 -0400 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6700 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6700 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> It's called "A New Kind of Science" and is reviewed by Ray Kurzweil on
> www.kurzweilai.net. No one has mentioned the book as applicable to
memetics
> but I noticed that one area it looks at is an application to biology and
> another area is complexity. This leads me to believe that it may also be
> used to attack the complexity of memetics.
FWIW this is where I came from into memetics, ie the algorithms that are
commonly grouped in the emerging discipline of Artificial Life or A-Life.
Cellular automata can generate sustainable self organising patterns based on
very simple rules and Wolfram is on about this in great detail. Another type
of algorithm common in A-Life is the genetic algorithm, which breeds for
fitness under given conditions. What I like about all this is that its a
hard science that allows pre-calculable and reproducible insight, the trick
is to blend it into the learnings of softer sciences like Sociology,
Economics, Org. Behaviour etc to make it predictive.
I see huge parallels between the rules that govern the operation of these
algorithms, and the way memes could work. There is alreasy quite an overlap
of all this into the emerging field of memetic algorithms.
Apologies if y'all knew all this, it wasn't clear from these posts.
Rgds
Alan
===============================================================
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 : Thu May 16 2002 - 09:40:31 BST