Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id LAA03302 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 19 Jan 2001 11:13:02 GMT Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 10:18:58 +0000 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: Myths and Memes: Distinction? Message-ID: <20010119101858.C509@reborntechnology.co.uk> References: <A4400389479FD3118C9400508B0FF230010D1A4D@DELTA.newhouse.akzonobel.nl> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.3.12i In-Reply-To: <A4400389479FD3118C9400508B0FF230010D1A4D@DELTA.newhouse.akzonobel.nl>; from D.Gatherer@organon.nhe.akzonobel.nl on Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 08:56:55AM +0100 From: Robin Faichney <robin@reborntechnology.co.uk> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 08:56:55AM +0100, Gatherer, D. (Derek) wrote:
> I know very little about myths, but I do remember Levi-Strauss's bon mot
> that 'les mythes se pensent dans les hommes, et a leur ainsu' (the bit after
> the comma italicised in the original). You could probably write a whole
> thesis just on that. Mind you, the idea of myths somehow residing inside
> the brains (if you translate 'dans' in that way) of les hommes, and also
> being there without our knowledge (a leur ainsu) and that they somehow have
> a sort of autonomy (ie. they 'se pensent' themselves rather than being
> passively 'pensee' by us), is perhaps a little too internalist for me, so
> I'll leave it to people whose thinking tends more in the same direction as
> Levi-Strauss.
But even you, Derek, can surely have no problem with the suggestion that
our genetically inherited tendencies form a very significant part of the
environment in which memes either survive or fail to do so. I'd suggest
that myths are memeplexes (for Julio: co-adapted meme complexes) that
are so well adapted to, that fit so well with, our genetically inherited
tendencies, that they have great staying power. In Jung's terms, they are
"numinous": they have the power to endlessly fascinate us. This also
goes for the supposed seven basic plots that all fiction follows.
What's notable about these memeplexes, from a memetic point of view,
is simply this: their survivability.
I don't know much about myths either, but I think what I've just
suggested is quite compatible with the approach of Joseph Campbell.
-- Robin Faichney robin@reborntechnology.co.uk=============================================================== 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
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jan 19 2001 - 11:14:47 GMT