From: Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Date: Sat 31 Jan 2004 - 17:49:21 GMT
M Lissack wrote:
> memes are NOT causal at the level of human behavior(except
> perhaps as signs of Final Causes)
>
> memes are at best catalytic
>
> to attribute CAUSE to memes is to greatly oversimplify at the
> cost of logical sense and in blind service to mistaken zealotry
>
> few genes are CAUSAL at the level of human behavior
>
> to explain McArthur using ONLY memes is a joke
>
> were the decision makers making use of a set of memes which
> may have contributed to their bad decision yes
>
> BUT there is ZERO EVIDENCE that the memes CAUSED anything
Causality is a philisophical topic, not a scientific one. Does the presence
of a meme in person A's mind affect the probability of his behaving in a
certain way? For instance, if I have learned the word "egress" will I tend
to behave differently in P.T. Barnum's tent when I see the sign "THIS WAY TO
THE EGRESS!" than someone who doesn't have that meme?
That being said, I agree that "to explain McArthur using ONLY memes is a
joke."
Richard Brodie
www.memecentral.com
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