Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id RAA01048 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 10 Jan 2001 17:41:15 GMT Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 09:42:11 -0800 (Pacific Standard Time) From: TJ Olney <market@cc.wwu.edu> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Necessary vs Useful In-Reply-To: <5.0.2.1.0.20010110094006.02121ec0@pop3.htcomp.net> Message-ID: <Pine.WNT.4.21.0101100928080.220-100000@c157775-a.frndl1.wa.home.com> X-X-Sender: market@[140.160.80.17] Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
As I talk to non-memetically oriented folks about memes and memetics, they
often have the reaction that memetics in an unnecessary overlay to whichever
issue I happen to be talking about. I'm trying hard to work up a good set of
responses to this, but am only successful some of the time.
In most cases the memetic POV is not necessary, but can be productive. The
thing that appeals to me most about the mPOV is how robust it is in terms of
different phenomena that it can explain. So, social contagion can be seen as
memetic, as can the history of ideas (from science to religion), as can the
spread of cultural practice, as can the rise and fall of fads. The list is
endless. In some sense memetics provides a meta-analytic tool for examining
all of these phenomena. It is not necessary, but useful.
We may come to find memetics most useful for indicating where and how to
apply other conceptual tools.
-- -- TJ Olney market@cc.wwu.edu Not all those who wander are lost. -- http://mp3.musicmatch.com/artists/artists.cgi?id=113&display=1=============================================================== 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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