Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA09341 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 30 Oct 2000 15:06:26 GMT Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745AC3@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: culture as niche construction? Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 15:00:18 -0000 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Hiya everyone,
Just came across an article in this week's New Scientist about this guy
Scott(?) Turner who argues that we should see things like beaver's dams, and
termite mounds as effectively part of an organism's physiology.
The magazine linked this idea to a theory about how things like beaver's
dams alter an organism's environment to the point where it influences the
genetic evolution of that organism (and I would guess other organisms also).
This is called niche construction, which I (probably poorly) understand as
meaning the manipulation by an organism of its environment to the extent
that it creates its own niche, rather than simple evolving to fit into an
independently occuring environmental niche.
Some proponents of this view have suggested that human culture is the same
thing- niche construction. (I forgot to bring the magazine into work with
me, so I forget the names of the authors who've published this in an
academic journal- apologies for tardiness on my part).
I just wondered what people thought about this, and how it affects memetics
(if at all)?
Vincent
[Just as an addendum to the 'defining and moving on' thread, I should just
like to point out again, that quite aside from the problems of defining
'meme', which most qould agree has become a rather circular debate needing
data, there are many other concepts that do require serious thought and
consensus before anyone can proceed, one of the most obvious being what
'culture' is.
I still find it remarkable that there are people out there who deny the
importance of definition, even when I completely concur with their
frustration at the lack of empiricism in memetics thus far. Whether people
like it or not, you can't have one without the other. It's like saying you
can do physics without worrying about what you mean by terms like 'light',
'space', 'time' and so on.]
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