Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id OAA15134 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sun, 16 Jul 2000 14:57:08 +0100 From: "Chris Lofting" <ddiamond@ozemail.com.au> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: point of memetic saturation Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 00:12:25 +1000 Message-ID: <LPBBICPHCJJBPJGHGMCIGEFMCHAA.ddiamond@ozemail.com.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Importance: Normal In-Reply-To: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745918@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Compare my comments on SAMENESS, and in particular Stephen Rose's research
on the memory/categorisation of chicks, with Vincent's comments on autism.
I wrote:
"If you look at Stephen Rose's work with chicks and memory, these chicks
function at a SAMENESS level and so not to objects, but more to a particular
harmonic of the object, namely that of COLOUR (in the experiments concerned
with this study). Colour reflects DIFFERENCE. Thus a red object that when
eaten causes sickness leads to ALL RED objects being rejected as food."
Vincent's text:
> So, for example, if they [autistic individual] encounter a poodle with a
red collar on,
> and someone tells them that is a dog, then they accept a poodle with a red
> collar as a dog, but only a poodle with a red collar. If they then see
> another breed of dog, or even a poodle with a different colour collar on,
> they will not recognise it as a dog.
There is a pattern here. Vicent goes on..
">The author made an analogy to a tree,
> and how normal people can associate and collate lots of variation within a
> category like 'dog', resulting in large central branches with offshoots,
> whereas autistic people cannot do this, and as such have
> multitudes of very thing branches."
There is a STRONG emphasis on not being able to group, which means not being
able to abstract DIFFERENCE, only SAMENESS; the emphasis in both cases is to
RED, a particular harmonic of colour.
I go on in my comments re chicks and objects/harmonics:
"The emphasis here is on RED not on the shape of the object, ANY object that
is red is avoided suggesting that the object experience is at the general
level, there is only ONE object and it appears in MANY forms.
Thus there is the subtle emphasis on SAME where a visual harmonic aids in
particular identification, object is object and so to identify the chick
uses a harmonic - RED object. There is no discernment at the object level
but there is at the relationship level and this is so strong that ALL
objects are avoided if they have this colour regardless of shape. This sort
of memory, and so a source of meaning, will, without reinforcement last
about four hours or so.
The emphasis on ALL reflects the EITHER/OR characteristics of SAMENESS, the
sense of the absolute and all communications will contain these sorts of
'hidden' emphasis, if it didnt then we could not make the assumptions we do
in communications (and at the DIFFERENCE level get more into
mis-understandings when we take surface structure as the whole meaning). My
recent comments on this are about our failing to 'look' at the species level
that is present and so get 'behind' the surface and use the deep to light-up
the surface from below.
At the basic level there is only ONE object, MANY aspects. Advance the
neurology and you start to be discerning about objectS etc."
Vincent ends his comments by saying that:
"> In this sense, then perhaps autistic people do indeed have
> some kind of information overload- either that or they are
> allergic to other people's memes!"
I would say that the development phase has malfunctioned such there is no
overload but more a problem in refined development such that going beyond
SELF is a problem.
best,
Chris.
------------------
Chris Lofting
websites:
http://www.eisa.net.au/~lofting
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~ddiamond
===============================================================
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
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Jul 16 2000 - 14:57:59 BST