From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Mon 19 May 2003 - 03:08:53 GMT
> on 5/18/03 9:55 PM, Richard Brodie at richard@brodietech.com wrote:
>
> > Wade wrote:
> >
> > <<Joe, and others, are convinced they have a theory about memes that
> > mirrors this discovery model- that it is only a matter of time
> > before enough evidence from fMRI and other cognitive investigative
> > technologies will provide the reality of the memeinthemind.>>
> >
> > Thanks for mentioning this, because I think it's a common error with
> > people struggling to understand memetics. The only instrument
> > necessary to provide the reality of mental replicators is a No. 2
> > pencil on a standardized exam. We know people can learn. We don't
> > need to know exactly how the information is stored to know it's
> > there. We know knowledge influences behavior. If it doesn't, Harvard
> > is the biggest con game in the history of the world. So when
> > knowledge influences behavior in such a way that the knowledge
> > spreads, you have a replicator.
> >
> > Curiously, many people find this difficult to understand. Dawkins
> > found the same about genetic evolution. I'm not sure why.
>
> I can't speak for Wade, but I don't have any problem understanding the
> claims of people who argue for memes-in-the-head that get replicated
> from one person to another. I just don't agree with them.
>
> In a similar fashion, I don't have trouble understanding the claims of
> people who believe that the earth is only 6000 years old. But I don't
> think those claims are correct.
>
That is your opinion. Now how about some support for it or an
argument against the alternatives? It's easy to do against creationists,
but even easier to do against Wade's schema, which seems to consist
of perpetually creating sophisticated performances ex nihilo and
dissolving them instantaneously, concomittant with the end of the
performance, never to be seen again. Indeed, in the absence of
cognitive templates, it is difficult to comprehend how people are able to
successfully negotiate complex and/or lengthy performances any better
than monkeys can type Shakespeare.
>
> William L. Benzon
> 708 Jersey Avenue, Apt. 2A
> Jersey City, NJ 07302
> 201 217-1010
>
> "You won't get a wild heroic ride to heaven on pretty little
> sounds."--George Ives
>
> Mind-Culture Coevolution: http://asweknowit.ca/evcult/
>
>
>
> ===============================================================
> 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
>
===============================================================
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
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon 19 May 2003 - 03:15:10 GMT