From: AaronLynch@aol.com
Date: Wed 09 Jul 2003 - 03:16:55 GMT
I have done a short (7 page) essay introducing my work on
the evolutionary epidemiology of ideas in the newsletter
_The Biological Physicist_, which is the newsletter of the
Division of Biological Physics of the American Physical
Society. The URL is
http://www.aps.org/units/dbp/newsletter/jun03.pdf .
As noted in my recent discussion with Keith Henson, my use
of terminology is not intended to promote some kind of
taboo against "the M word" (meme). Since the time you and I
discussed the definition back in 1996, some definitions
that are more radically contrary to each other have
emerged. A widespread perception has developed that
memeticists are being evasive about the definition, or that
the sharply contrary definitions reflect fundamental
conceptual or theoretical flaws, or even that the theory
depends upon having this particular word. This creates some
reasons for relying on other terms, and for making sure
that those terms are explicitly defined. Currently, I am
using the phrase "thought contagion" to denote "A memory
item, or portion of an organism's neurally-stored
information, identified using the abstraction system of the
observer, whose instantiation depended critically on
causation by prior instantiation of the same memory item in
one or more other organisms' nervous systems." However, it
is not necessary for me to use the term "thought
contagion." I find the term convenient, but there is
nothing sacred about it. I could just as well attach some
other term to the same definition. I do not think that
scientific terms (including "meme" and "thought contagion")
should be treated as brands, complete with brand loyalty
ideas.
The theoretical paradigm I propose does not depend upon
having the particular phrase "thought contagion," and I
could, if I wanted to, rephrase all of my work without it.
For those who prefer the word "meme," I recommend including
a copy of your own preferred formal definition in each
article -- perhaps at least as a footnote. I should add
that that this would also be a good idea for articles using
the term "thought contagion." As I mentioned earlier, it
might even be wise for people on this list to include the
particular definitions they use in a signature file for all
messages that use the term. I would recommend this even for
people using the OED definition of the word "meme."
--Aaron Lynch
Thought Contagion Science Page:
http://www.thoughtcontagion.com
===============================================================
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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