From: joedees@bellsouth.net
Date: Sun 25 May 2003 - 19:52:50 GMT
>
> On Sunday, May 25, 2003, at 02:58 PM, Joe wrote:
>
> > The specific symbol strings encode the selfsame message in different
> > performances, requiring different knowledges to transmit and receive
>
> That is _almost_ the situation in the performance model of cultural
> evolution. What is needed is a change of one word-
>
> "The specific symbol strings encode the selfsame message in different
> performances, requiring similar knowledges to transmit and receive."
>
> And, quite honestly, I cannot fathom how people with different
> knowledges could transmit and receive the selfsame message. A deaf
> person would say 'hello' in sign language, and a speaking person would
> not know what this action was. And yet your model would seem to claim
> that 'hello' would be communicated? How does this happen?
>
> If a person were to show me the result of '8x9' on their abacus, I
> would not know they meant '72' unless I had knowledge of how an abacus
> works, and I don't. Once supplied with this similar knowledge about
> the workings of an abacus, I can 'see' '72' upon one, but, not before.
>
The knowledges are similar, since they are different encoding modes of
the selfsame language, but they are different enough that an illiterate
person can understand spoken words, but not the same words if they
are written down. Speaking and writing the selfsame words are
different performances; one involves moving an instrument held in the
hand, the other involves moving the lips and palate and engaging the
vocal cords. Likewise, reading and comprehending discourse, require
different perceptual modalities, in the one case visual, in the other case
auditory. There are, of course, other modes that blend these two; sign
language is one, braille is another. But still, the knowledge of how to
parse the differing codes is required (as well as the language
vocabulary); this knowledge is memetic in nature, since it is externally
taught and learned (between), and internally stored and
accessed(within).
>
> - Wade
>
>
> ===============================================================
> 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
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