Re: I know one when I see one

From: Dace (edace@earthlink.net)
Date: Sat 02 Nov 2002 - 17:26:26 GMT

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    > From: Bill Spight <bspight@pacbell.net>
    >
    > Dear Dace,
    >
    > > You seem to find amusing the idea that genes and memes could be alive
    > > and self-existent.
    >
    > Some people use :-) to indicate amusement or that they are not serious.
    > I do not. I use :-) to indicate a smile, ;-) to indicate a grin.
    >
    > Ciao,
    >
    > Bill

    I'm quite aware of your passive-aggressive tendencies. The smile of pure malice. The sign-off that cloaks contempt with good cheer. Though you've completely failed to address or even acknowledge any of my arguments, you somehow imagine you've scored some kind of glorious victory and can withdraw without further elaboration. You seem to think your point is so obviously correct, you don't even have to make it.

    Guess what? It's not the least bit clear why the suggestion that genes and memes self-replicate is so patently ridiculous as to require no response whatever. Your attitude is particularly odd given that the point you're so arrogantly dismissing is the fundamental idea of the field we're ostensibly here to discuss. Yet you simply toss it aside without comment. You must be pretty hot stuff, Bill.

    What distinguishes memetics from the standard view of culture is that memes are self-promoting. Ideas, behaviors, catch-phrases... all take on a life of their own. That's the whole point. Nothing you say-- or don't say-- can change that.

    Ted

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