From: Othman Mohamed/CUSM/Reg06/SSSS (othman.mohamed@muhc.mcgill.ca)
Date: Wed 06 Nov 2002 - 17:15:04 GMT
Just would like to take your opinion guys about his book the electric meme.
I bought the book few months ago and was hoping to enjoy reading it. I read
only up to chapter seven and then had to put the book down. I must admit
that I was disapponted with the book. I found it kind of boring generally
and it seemed to me that Robert was not very sure of what he was saying.
What I didn't like the most is that he mentioned some scientificly wrong
statments and didn't bother to check them before hand. I remember one that
he said that Ribosomes manufacture DNA and he went and based an argument on
that. C'mon, this is basic cell biolgy stuff and this mistake shouldn't
have been there. Another one he said that Watson and Crick solved the
genetic codon. There is a difference between the double helix structure
which Watson and Crick solved and the genetic codon. I also find it bizar
that he was not sure whetehr Dawkins consider memes as replicators. If I
remember his words correctly, he said" Does Dawkins himself consider memes
as replicator? Although it is not clear from his writing, it seems that he
does". C'mon, Dawkins was very cleare in difining memes as replicators from
the very first time he mentioned the idea of memes in the 1967 edition of
the selfish gene. In fact that is how he came about the meme idea because
he was looking for other replicators apart from genes.
Couple of things like these made me put the book down, but before unfairly
judge Robert, I would like to see what you guys think about his book. I
hope I will change my mind and go back and read his book again.
Othman
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