Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id TAA00407 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 26 Oct 2000 19:51:51 +0100 X-Originating-IP: [212.38.174.28] From: "Paul marsden" <paulsmarsden@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: Defining and moving on Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2000 18:48:11 GMT Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <LAW2-F104ZKY1d66HcA00001c66@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 26 Oct 2000 18:48:11.0484 (UTC) FILETIME=[4A3541C0:01C03F7D] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Bill Benzon:
There you go. Now you have another word whose definition you can debate. It
would be more useful to take a look at the world and try to see what's
happening.
Paul Marsden
I second this - but do not think that memetics as it stands is necessarily
vacuous.
For instance, memetics may be used to interpret the persistence of
culturally specified maladaptive action over many cultural generations in
terms inclusive memetic fitness contribution. From this perspective, human
action that is detrimental to the individual, including suicide, may be
interpreted, and made sense of, in terms of the overall impact of that
action in getting culturally reproduced. As long as the overall
reproductive chances are not consistently reduced, then from a memetic
perspective, it makes sense that such traits should persist in a cultural or
meme pool over time. Concretely this model would suggest that suicide be
most prevalent in those with low inclusive memetic fitness - those with
little access to the means of sociocultural reproduction; the isolated, the
lonely, and those that represent a cost to their social group. (This should
not be mistaken as a deterministic and functionalist argument for why people
commit suicide - rather the point is that whatever its origin, there is a
memetic rationale for why it could persist.)
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