Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA17650 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 17 Jul 2000 15:29:47 +0100 Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 07:28:26 -0700 From: Bill Spight <bspight@pacbell.net> Subject: Re: Memes and sexuality To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Message-id: <3973180A.F88D1206@pacbell.net> Organization: Saybrook Graduate School X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en]C-PBI-NC404 (Win95; I) Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-Accept-Language: ja,en References: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D310174592A@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Dear Vincent,
> I just had this vague recollection of reading about a case where the
> conclusion that a tribal community didn't know the connection between sex
> and child birth, was shown to be false by a later study where a researcher
> spent a greater period of time with the tribe.
I have a similar recollection. IIRC, the original researcher asked his
informants where children come from, and got a mythical explanation. Later
researchers found that the myth did not mean that the relation between sex
and reproduction was unknown, but that the myth was the key to bearing a
child, rather than having a miscarriage or still birth.
Sorry, I don't remember more. But I do remember a Persian myth that the
soul preexists, and descends through various heavenly realms to be born.
Even in modern societies, one can imagine someone answering the question of
where babies come from with, "Babies come from God." :-)
Best,
Bill
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