Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id UAA20496 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 24 Aug 2000 20:47:57 +0100 Message-ID: <000b01c00e08$2a101c40$6805bed4@default> From: "Kenneth Van Oost" <Kenneth.Van.Oost@village.uunet.be> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <A4400389479FD3118C9400508B0FF230040F19@DELTA> Subject: Re: Changing threads/ American Nationalism !? Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 22:15:32 +0200 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
----- Original Message -----
From: Gatherer, D. (Derek) <D.Gatherer@organon.nhe.akzonobel.nl>
> Kernneth:
> I just meant, that the memetic transmission is in some sense Lamarckian.
> Derek:
> Well, no, I don't agree. In what sense?
> Kenneth:
> we use Lamarckian principles in order to explain some events happening in
> cultural and social exchange, don 't we !?
> Derek:
> No, memeticists definitely don't do that. That's one of the central
tenets
> of memetics, that culture is a Darwinian system.
<< Well, I put the explanation in my post.
American citizins are bound " to copy the actions " which their government
throwns upon them, not the instructions which political brains held at the
time
making up those actions.
Maby, there is a difference in using the term Lamarckian !?
I use the term mostly in conncetion with the brain_the neural pathways_what
we learn troughout our lifetime is passed on to the offspring.
I can 't believe that nothing of our understanding/ our needs/ beliefs and
wisches is not inherited by our children !
Remerber, a childs brain is not an unwritten sheet of paper, there are
already
semantic impressions, there are already emotional dispositions present.
Maybe they are species bound, but I expect to find more individual threads.
Culture is a Darwinian system, I don 't gonna argue that, but underneath, at
the individual level there are Lamarckian threads.
The basis anatomy of our brains ( where memes presumebly are) is laid
down in our genes, but how much of the internal circuity is genetically
determined !?
That is, genes make up our phenotype, but not which neural connections will
be made in the first place; not which neural connections will be reinforced
and
which ones will be left behind.
IMHO, children are born with some already reinforced neural pathways, due
to the fact that what the parents have learned/ experienced etc leaves some-
how a biological mark on their childs brain. And that is Lamarckian.
Maby, you can pin point it back to Darwinian evolutionary threads, well
ok...
but that is not my view.
In a sense, American citizins do the same thing, their government reinforces
already existing neural pathways, and that experience/ that new thread to
fit new circumstances is passed on to their children_ and that is IMHO a
general process.
And I think_in order to explain some events happening in our social/
cultural world we have to account for that sort of possibility, not only on
the indi-
vidual level, but also at a more general level.
And if not, then I suppose we are living in seperate worlds, Derek!
But, please, continue...
Hope I made clear...
Regards,
Kenneth
( I am, because we are)
===============================================================
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 : Thu Aug 24 2000 - 20:49:25 BST