Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id IAA03374 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sun, 4 Feb 2001 08:43:26 GMT Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 18:26:14 +0000 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: Darwinian evolution vs memetic evolution Message-ID: <20010203182614.B5864@reborntechnology.co.uk> References: <20010203170611.AAA24352@camailp.harvard.edu@[204.96.32.117]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.3.12i In-Reply-To: <20010203170611.AAA24352@camailp.harvard.edu@[204.96.32.117]>; from wade_smith@harvard.edu on Sat, Feb 03, 2001 at 12:07:59PM -0500 From: Robin Faichney <robin@reborntechnology.co.uk> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Sat, Feb 03, 2001 at 12:07:59PM -0500, Wade T.Smith wrote:
> Hi Dr Able Lawrence --
>
> >in Genetic evolution there is no
> >conscious choice by the participating players
>
> Don't tell that to any woman....
:-)
> >evolution of memes
> >are influenced by the aesthetic values of the participating humans
>
> And this seems like such a mobius strip of intentionality that I tend to
> strike it quickly with Occam's tool, and let socio-biology sift out where
> the aesthetic came from in the first place.
>
> The aesthetic behind a woman's decision to allow a certain male to
> impregnate her- how can it be said that is not genetic?
It doesn't need to be said that it's not genetic, only that it's not
entirely genetic. Any cultural influence on her choice, however slight,
means memes are influencing genes.
And remember, we're not necessarily talking "allow to impregnate", with
it's po-faced connotations, here -- any male who manages to turn her on,
by whatever means, might do. Or do you think culture doesn't have any
influence over what turns people on?
-- 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
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