Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id TAA06874 (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 19:35:02 GMT X-Originating-IP: [209.240.220.223] From: "Scott Chase" <ecphoric@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: DNA Culture .... Trivia? Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 14:31:59 -0500 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <F188mpcQABZTW5k1Ed20000262f@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 19 Jan 2001 19:31:59.0408 (UTC) FILETIME=[7DAF6300:01C0824E] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
>Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>To: "memetics list" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
>Subject: Re: DNA Culture .... Trivia?
>Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 08:52:57 -0500
>
>On 01/18/01 08:26, Robin Faichney said this-
>
> >Memes spread via behaviour.
>
>Behaviors happen- whether or not something replicates during this, is,
>IMHO, still to be proven. The fact of a behavior is not proof of a meme,
>it is an action, and can, perhaps, remain a completely unmemetically
>caused one until this meme thingee is actually found. And until it is,
>the camp that doesn't want it, doesn't need it, and sees it as shaveable
>by Occam's Razor can keep their tents up. If one camps with the
>socio-biologists, this behavior is an adaptation dependent upon
>environment- thus birdsong is an example, like termite's mounds and
>spiders' webs, of changes due to genetic adaptibility to conditions, and
>little, if nothing else.
>
>It is the behavior itself of memetic propagation (mutation, transmission,
>replication, genesis) I want more attention paid to- the 'sex' part of
>memetic transmission- the behavior that starts by demanding a meme be
>placed in another locale, and finds the way to do this. Is memetic sex
>equally as male/female a system as genetic sex?
>
Are memes carried on strands which can exist in a haploid, diploid, or
polyploid state? Do memetic mutants accumulate in an asexual system and
require purging to reduce the load? Would there be mating types or anisogamy
even?
Are there sporophyte and gametophyte stages? Is there meiosis and reduction
division? Crossing over and recombination? Unequal crossing over leading to
meme duplication? Jumping memes?
I'm still trying to see why the meme/gene analogy needs to be taken so far
and all the other ways analogies can be made between memes and genes or
genetic material. In a viral analogy, all memes would do is co-opt host
machinery to facilitate more copies being made. Would memetic overload
result in a lytic explosion of the hosts where memetic progeny can then be
released to attack new hosts? Envelopes posing as a Trojan horse to get the
meme accepted undetected into the host?
>
>Why are ideas important seeds?
>
Well let's explore the seed analogy. Would these seeds possess adaptations
for aiding dispersal via wind or perhaps little pricklies helping a surface
embedding onto the carrier to be planted in far off environs. Would some
memetic seeds have juicy and tasty coverings which increase their likelihood
of being consumed and dispersed with the resulting dung?
>
>And, yes, I think science answers 'why' questions, and always has. It's
>the only tool that can ask the real ones.
>
>
I can agree with your focus on the scientific nature of ultimate questions.
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