RE: Standard definition

From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Wed 30 Oct 2002 - 18:49:22 GMT

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    > <Placing the cultural unit of transmission solely in performance
    > would > allow quantitative analysis. Putting it anywhere else only
    > allows > conjecture.> >
    > Yes, a definite nail on the head comment.
    >
    > There for me lies the key to behaviours and/or artefacts as the
    > units of cultural transmission- there are things out there we can
    > study empirically. Studying the dissemination of ideas or beliefs is
    > much more ephemeral as all you can do is look for external features-
    > i.e. behaviours and artefacts that you suppose indicate the presence
    > of particular ideas/beliefs.
    >
    > Besides when people have examined the spread of particular religious
    > faiths, for example, what they're really doing is looking at patterns
    > of discrete behaviours and artefacts that are assumed to represent a
    > fixed set of ideas/beliefs. I think Aunger makes this point, that
    > you can't truly have memes without their embodiment in practices and
    > artefacts.
    >
    > That doesn't mean that it's entirely inappropriate or unreasonable to
    > place memes elsewhere, just that it's more open to conjecture, and
    > thus a lack of rigour and accuracy in terms of empirical analysis.
    > And if (a big if I know) it works in the behaviour/artefact
    > understanding, why problematise it?
    >
    > Vincent
    >
    This reminds me of the old joke where a drunk drops a quarter on the sidewalk when leaving a bar at night. He quickly proceeds to a streetlamp and starts peering at the curb beneath it. His buddy asks hi what he is doing.
    "I'm searching for my quarter", the drunk replied.
    "But you dropped it back there. Why are you looking over here?" The light's better over here."
    >
    >
    >
    > ===============================================================
    > 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 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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