Re: New Memes Book

From: Kate Distin (memes@distin.co.uk)
Date: Fri 18 Mar 2005 - 11:38:08 GMT

  • Next message: Scott Chase: "Re: A time for war."

    Scott Chase wrote:

    >--- Kate Distin <memes@distin.co.uk> wrote:
    >
    >
    >
    >>Memes in the mind - yes. Memes in behaviour and/or
    >>artefacts - it
    >>depends what you mean by "behaviour" and
    >>"artefacts": memes in artefacts
    >>like books and CDs - definitely; memes in spoked
    >>wheels (to use one of
    >>Dennett's examples) - no. Memes, on my view, are
    >>fundamentally
    >>representational, so anything that isn't a
    >>representation can't be a
    >>meme. This turns out to be a key point on which I
    >>disagree with Dennett
    >>and Blackmore in particular, both of whom use a lot
    >>of examples based on
    >>things that I don't see as memes at all. The other
    >>major point at which
    >>our views diverge is their claim that the mind is a
    >>meme-complex. I
    >>think we can have our cake and eat it: that memetics
    >>is compatible with
    >>a conventional view of the conscious human mind.
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >As for representations, have you read any of Dan
    >Sperber's stuff?
    >
    >
    >

    I have, and like it a lot. You might not get this impression from my book, which has some sections on why I disagree with his view that cultural transmission doesn't count as "real" replication - but it's true nonetheless!

    Kate

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