RE: Lesser genes than expected

From: Lawrence DeBivort (debivort@umd5.umd.edu)
Date: Tue Feb 20 2001 - 22:42:40 GMT

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From: "Lawrence DeBivort" <debivort@umd5.umd.edu>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: Lesser genes than expected
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 17:42:40 -0500
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    > Kenneth Van Oost:
    >
    > Maybe intelligence, self- awareness,...has less to do with genetics
    > but more with memetics.
    >
    >
    > LdB:
    > If intelligence is the ability to consider a great deal of
    > information, find new and useful patterns in it, and propose courses
    > of action that acheive outcomes better than those proposed by others,
    > then memes and other non-memetic beliefs do have a lot to do with
    > intelligence, beyond any impacts on intelligence that are genetically
    > based. No matter how good the genes, if an individual's beliefs are
    > poorly selected, they will not easily be able to perform in the
    > 'intelligent' manner suggested above.
    >

    Joe:
    On the other hand, you can send a hamster to Harvard and show it
    non-stop BBC and PBS and still have just a hamster that won't
    pass the mirror test for self-awareness. The brains we evolved are
    necessary as memetic environments.

    LdB:
    Agreed. We tried just that and concluded that while the hamster did not
    appear any more intelligent that before his Harvard experience, he did enjoy
    the freshmen dining hall immensely.

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