Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id SAA04895 (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 18:53:36 GMT X-Originating-IP: [209.240.222.130] From: "Scott Chase" <ecphoric@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: books and papers Date: Sun, 04 Feb 2001 13:50:57 -0500 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <F119rDs9aAOPpBpcXCX00002254@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 04 Feb 2001 18:50:57.0769 (UTC) FILETIME=[690B1590:01C08EDB] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk>
>Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
>Subject: books and papers
>Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 12:46:33 -0000
>
>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.
>
>
I blather. You don't. Of the many informative posts here, yours and Derek's
have been the ones I usually look forward to. Interestingly, Derek is
steeped in genetics and neurobiology, yet, if I'm not mistaken, prefers an
externalist view. That's significant.
Anyway, in a similar vein about books and papers, I picked up an issue of a
magazine called _Foreign Policy_ and there's an article about political
contagion called "Fads, Fevers, and Firestorms" by Stephen Walt. He lists
Lynch's book as recommended reading. He also lists Gladwell's _The Tipping
Point_ which I might get around to sometime.
I've been wanting to read up on social contagion and the books/literature on
collective behavior one of these days. When I took sociology many moons ago,
I remember thinking that collective behavior might be an important avenue to
explore.
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