From: Chris Taylor (Christopher.Taylor@man.ac.uk)
Date: Thu 14 Nov 2002 - 16:03:58 GMT
> The law of unintended consequences is a driving force in memetic
> evolution. Look at the internet. Originally invented for DARPA...
This is the same as functionalism in sociology no? For example schools
fail to educate the 'lad' class as they pass through, but the 'sitting
at the back and throwing stuff' training they receive prepares them to
do the (mostly) low-skilled jobs their poor eduction will limit them to
by equipping them with a 'lad culture' to lighten the days (a bag of
in-jokes, bigotry, bullying, drinking and letching).
It is functional for society (cos [a] someone has to do those jobs, and
[b] the lad culture helps them cope), but presumably this was not the
intent of the architects of our educational system.
Our buildings shape us...
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Chris Taylor (chris@bioinf.man.ac.uk)
http://bioinf.man.ac.uk/ »people»chris
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