Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id BAA19808 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 17 Nov 2000 01:31:11 GMT Date: Thu, 16 Nov 2000 17:27:14 -0800 (Pacific Standard Time) From: TJ Olney <market@cc.wwu.edu> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: RE: stored mental entities (and Mayr on memes) In-Reply-To: <200011162356.PAA30384@mail22.bigmailbox.com> Message-ID: <Pine.WNT.4.21.0011161711520.-545099@Starship083.cbe.wwu.edu> X-X-Sender: market@voyager.cbe.wwu.edu Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Quoting Mayr on the meme: (bq)"It seems to me that this word is
> nothing but an unnecessary synonym of the term "concept"."(eq)
Not a bad assertion, but it unfortunately fails to denote all the
great stuff about replication, mutation, and point of view that makes
memetics interesting. Let's acknowledge that they are pretty close to
synonymous at some level. At another level, memes and metaphors are
synonyms. It would be a largely uphill battle to convince the whole world
that concepts replicate and mutate, by definition, memes do.
>
> Would, following Mayr, conceptual evolution be preferable to memetic evolution?
Obviously not. This way we get to employ twice as many academics.
There are also all those history of ideas folks and history of science
folks, historical anthropologists, etc...
TJ Olney
-- look closer, they must be there. I can hear their tiny voices singing
and their tiny toes dancing. If you look closely enough, I'm sure you'll
be able to count them.
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