RE: _Religion Explained_ by Pascal Boyer

From: Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Date: Fri 06 Jun 2003 - 01:34:16 GMT

  • Next message: derek gatherer: "and a few I missed yesterday"

    Keith wrote:

    [Dace]
    >Oh, no, I'm saying that memes are replicated from mind to mind, while
    >typically ideas are recreated in each mind through the process of
    >understanding. Replication involves mimickry more than genuine
    >understanding.

    [Keith]
    <<Which would you say applies to a person who has internalized the baseball meme and knows how to play it?>>

    Exactly. The fact of replication is indifferent to the mechanics involved. Whether the meme is transmitted through brute force, like the Pledge of Allegiance, or though guided inference, like someone figuring out the rules of baseball by watching the game, the meme is still replicated. Or, to use Dennett's Intentional Stance, the meme replicates itself.

    Richard Brodie www.memecentral.com

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