Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id MAA02213 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 18 Sep 2000 12:04:20 +0100 Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 11:59:12 +0100 From: Robin Faichney <robin@reborntechnology.co.uk> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: memetics and knowledge Message-ID: <20000918115912.A1617@reborntechnology.co.uk> References: <200009162002.QAA18143@mail3.lig.bellsouth.net>; <20000917140026.A2429@reborntechnology.co.uk> <200009172009.QAA03567@mail1.lig.bellsouth.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii User-Agent: Mutt/1.0.1i In-Reply-To: <200009172009.QAA03567@mail1.lig.bellsouth.net>; from joedees@bellsouth.net on Sun, Sep 17, 2000 at 03:10:51PM -0500 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Sun, Sep 17, 2000 at 03:10:51PM -0500, Joe E. Dees wrote:
> >
> One can completely communicate the multiplication tables, but it
> would still take practice to commit it to memory, just like riding a
> bicycle.
In your "How to Ride A Bike", you didn't explain the most important,
and most difficult aspect: how to maintain one's balance. Noone ever
told me that, either, and I doubt very much whether many bike riders ever
had it explained to them. Even if they did, they'd need practice before
they could do it effectively, but that's NOT because it needs committing
to memory -- it is basically very simple: just steer in the direction
towards which you find yourself leaning -- unlike the multiplication
tables, so simple that it can easily be memorised on first being heard.
What's actually required here is the motor skill of doing that, to
the correct degree, automatically. If it's not automatic, it's not
fast enough -- like juggling, the conscious mind just isn't up to
it, and until the unconscious mind "gets" it, it can't be done.
I'd suggest that people who "teach" bike riding usually don't bother
to communicate that just because the automation of it is so important,
that conscious knowledge of it is little or no help. In fact, it wasn't
until I'd been happily riding to and from school every day for years that
I realised what I was doing to maintain my balance. And I think I only
realised it then, because someone told me, or I read it somewhere.
The key word here is "skill". Now, we can argue about whether skills and
knowledge are overlapping or disjoint sets, but that's just semantics,
isn't it? And I'm not wedded to "mystical knowledge", anyway -- "mystical
skill" works just as well for me. But the point is, what's central to
both bike riding and mysticism can't be communicated directly, for the
same reason -- and in neither case -- despite mysticism's reputation
among those ignorant of it -- is it some special secret.
Maybe I should say, I do understand that the common "mysticism" meme
has thoroughly innoculated people against the concepts associated
with the technical meaning of the word, and I sympathise. It's like
"intentionality" -- the common usage tends to obscure the technical
meaning even among those whom you'd think really should know better --
but that's the power of the meme!
-- Robin Faichney=============================================================== 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
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