Re: DNA Culture .... Trivia?

From: Robin Faichney (robin@reborntechnology.co.uk)
Date: Wed Jan 10 2001 - 10:37:38 GMT

  • Next message: Vincent Campbell: "RE: DNA Culture .... Trivia?"

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    Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 10:37:38 +0000
    To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
    Subject: Re: DNA Culture .... Trivia?
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    In-Reply-To: <000901c07a55$ab7eda00$cc90ef9b@Intekom5001>; from dini@intekom.co.za on Tue, Jan 09, 2001 at 01:40:47PM +0200
    From: Robin Faichney <robin@reborntechnology.co.uk>
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    On Tue, Jan 09, 2001 at 01:40:47PM +0200, Dini wrote:
    > Hi there,
    >
    > I am a new member on this List and am greatly interested in Memes. I was
    >first introduced to the concept by Douglas Klimesh (he may be on your List
    >as well). After reading the letter from T.J. Olney and the reply from one
    >of your other List members, I wonder if I got the idea of Memes correct.

    Yes, except for a couple of points...

    > To me, genes are genes and memes are memes. I almost see the memes as
    >the esoteric equivalent of genes, but NOT tied together, like the two are
    >a duality. Genes get transferred the 'normal' way through reproduction,
    >while I understand that memes, which are totally non-physical, get
    >transferred from person to person, when people have mental contact
    >with one another. For instance, me reading about memetics, whether in
    >a book, magazine, letters of e-mails, sends me a lot of memes (almost
    >knowledge). Just two people meeting in the street and looking at one
    >another will transfer memes.

    No, they probably won't. The minimum requirement for memetic transmission
    is information transfer via behaviour. And though memes are items of
    information rather than physical things, they have to be carried by,
    or as I like to say encoded in, physical things. Mainly, brain states,
    patterns of behaviour, and artefacts such as books.

    >Everything we learn, necessarily from others or other outside sources,
    >fills us with memes. At the same time we transfer memes to the people we
    >come into contact with. I used to call it "touching" people, and people
    >"touching" us in return.

    > This acquired characteristics (Lamarque would have loved this) become
    >part of the Personality, AND MAY THEN WELL BE TRANSFERRED TO FUTURE
    >GENERATIONS in the form of genes in the DNA.

    Absolutely not. This goes against all current theory and findings in
    the relevant disciplines. I know of only one person who believes this,
    and I can't understand why he clings to it. While there are certainly
    many fascinating meme/gene interactions, their transmission paths remain
    entirely separate: genes through biological reproduction, and memes
    through behaviour and/or artefacts. There is neither any evidence for,
    nor any theory regarding how it would happen, that memes could become
    encoded in the genes and transmitted with them.

    -- 
    Robin Faichney
    robin@reborntechnology.co.uk
    

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