Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id MAA28768 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 2 Feb 2001 12:47:42 GMT Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745C2E@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: books and papers Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 12:46:33 -0000 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Hiya everyone,
After my last post in this regard, which generated a frenzy of apathy, I'm
pleased to say I received my copies of Balkin's 'Cultural Software' and
Aunger's edited volume 'Darwinizing Culture' this week (the latter just now
actually, and this was fortunate because the rather sceptical professor
organising the research seminar was quizzing me again over whether memetics
was a real word or not and- being an academic- seeing it on a book cover was
evidence enough!). I was dead exicted to get both, which is in itself
rather tragic...
Flicking through Balkin's book, it looks like he's taken the Dawkins/Dennett
line on the definition of memes, and there don't seem to be references to
Brodie or Lynch, or others. To be fair, it's copyrighted to 1998, so he
wouldn't have seen Blackmore, nor the journal either. Whether that puts
people off, or encourages them, I don't know. Having said that, from the
comments on the dustjacket, he does seem to have impressed a fair few people
in his field (he's a professor of constitutional law).
Aunger's book has been mentioned before of course, and flicking through it
as I type it looks very, very interesting, and isn't just a pro-meme book
either.
Both will have to wait though until I get through reading Cavalli-Sforza's
new book. I could have jumped to the chapter on cultural evolution, but
thought I'd best wade through the population genetics stuff (I'm up to
Mitochondrial Eve and Y-chromosome Adam at the moment). He begins the book
with a very interesting discussion of the concept of race that would of
helped me in that discussion with Richard ages ago when the issue of racism
came up.
Anyway, enough blather.
Vincent
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