Re: Silent memes

From: Van oost Kenneth (kennethvanoost@belgacom.net)
Date: Tue 15 Jul 2003 - 18:39:26 GMT

  • Next message: Van oost Kenneth: "Re: Silent memes"

    ----- Original Message ----- Vincent,
    > >Very interesting, although it strikes me that there's a difference
    between
    > >skills that can be conveyed as easily non-verbally as verbally (or indeed
    > >even better non-verbally). Whilst making a flint axe can be learnt
    through
    > >demonstration, copying and practice, it seems that things like the laws,
    > >religion, history etc of a social group cannot be easily transmitted
    without
    > >language.
    Keith,
    > When people devised methods to store information, they used two
    approaches,
    > non-verbal and verbal or pictures and sounds. Chinese and Egyptian
    > hieroglyphs are the outcome of the picture approach. Writing systems
    > descended from Cuneiform went to sounds. Both methods worked.
    > When you get to transmitting "laws, religion, history etc." I think
    "stored
    > information" in some form is more of a factor. Really primitive tribes
    > don't really have laws, religion is a local matter subject to change, and
    > history goes back not much further than the oldest witness.
    > Your main point is, of course, correct, but I can imagine an alien race
    > without language where all meme transmission was by pictures or
    > demonstration. An entire world of mimes! (Shudder)

    Kenneth,

    But how did the Old Egypt express, as much as we do today, about their laws, religion,etc in their pictures !? How much of the tic and tac of laws, religion,etc can you express with pictures like Egypt did !?

    Or do we have here to consider the possibility that what we know now about the laws and religion of the Old Egypt, interpretations and vague suppositions, wasn 't avaible as information as such for the peoples of that time !?

    What makes then the info we think we possess about that period !? Is the info we, (think we), have accurate, truthfull and basically the same info as the one avaible in that time !?

    Regards,

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