From: Keith Henson (hkhenson@rogers.com)
Date: Sun 09 Mar 2003 - 19:42:40 GMT
At 12:24 PM 09/03/03 -0600, joedees wrote:
snip
>Sorry, but one of the primary differences between memetics and
>genetics is the identity of the shaping environment. For genetics, it is
>the terrestrial ecological environment; for memetics it is the cognitive
>gestalt.
You might be saying what I do here just using different words. Memes
survive or fail to survive depending on several factors. A hypothetical
meme that you could fly by jumping off high buildings is gonna fail because
of physics. :-) I suppose physics could be considered part of the
cognitive gestalt. Phrenology failed largely because it was judged lacking
by the metameme of the scientific method. That too might be considered
part of the cognitive gestalt.
It is also worth keeping in mind that memes and genes have effects on each
other. A meme for whacking off gonads or committing suicide, or never
having sex (Shakers) eliminates the genes for those who are infected with
such a meme. In time it might make the survivors somewhat more skeptical.
Keith Henson
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