Re: I know one when I see one

From: Wade Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Date: Wed 30 Oct 2002 - 16:51:32 GMT

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    On Wednesday, October 30, 2002, at 09:20 , Bill Spight wrote:

    > And how does this transfer happen?\

    Person A performs meme A. Person B observes Person A and performs meme B.

    > But all performances differ. What is transfered?

    The fact that all performances differ is not self-evident in all memetic theories, although they are, of course, and that is a groundwork to the behavior-only theory. As to what is transfered, take your pick- ideas, thoughts, implications, inferences, physical motions, social conventions, what precisely the information that actually gets transfered is open to great and limitless analysation.

    There is no reason to assume anything gets transfered, really, only that that there are similarities to Meme A and Meme B. Transference is a meaning-related condition and can be part of an understanding of the performance, but no understanding of any meaning is _demanded_ by the performance-only theory. Culture happens when alphabets happen.

    - Wade

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