Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id SAA27389 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 29 May 2000 18:04:36 +0100 From: Robin Faichney <robin@faichney.demon.co.uk> Organization: Reborn Technology To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: RE: Jabbering ! Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 16:11:45 +0100 X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.0.21] Content-Type: text/plain References: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745880@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Message-Id: <00052916204504.00664@faichney> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Mon, 29 May 2000, Vincent Campbell wrote:
>Perhaps a biologist should answer this one for us, since I see your point.
I know there are several people on this list who know more than enough
about genetics to answer it. I just hope one of them can be bothered!
>I remember Stephen Jones, when asked about primate rights and this
>similarity was put to him (by a journalist), he retorted sharply that humans
>share 75% of our genes with horses, and 50% with something else... yeast I
>think he said, but I can't remember! Anyway, he said as a result it was a
>specious argument.
Steve Jones once said that philosophy is to science as pornography is to
sex, so I wouldn't place too much importance on anything he says on
philosophical issues.
(I once had the chance to throw that back at him on a radio phone-in where
the other studio guest was Mary Midgeley, the well-known philosopher, but
I blew it, chickening out and sticking to the issue I'd spoken about to
the researcher before the show. Ah well, I don't _know_ I'll never get
another chance...)
>This genetic closeness has raised issues in science fiction (e.g. The Gor
>Saga) because humans and chimps, I believe, are close enough to inter-breed
>(like horses and donkeys).
My first reaction was, well how come it's never happened, but then I
thought, maybe it has! Sheesh!
>What I mean is that it is in the small area of difference that the
>distinctiveness of human behaviour may reside...
That's necessarily so, isn't it? :-)
-- Robin Faichney===============================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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