Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id AAA17981 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 23 Mar 2001 00:40:24 GMT X-Originating-IP: [209.240.220.191] From: "Scott Chase" <ecphoric@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: The Demise of a Meme Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 19:35:25 -0500 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <F215QuN6tdqVvPdLFYx00000dd4@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 23 Mar 2001 00:35:25.0810 (UTC) FILETIME=[27285D20:01C0B331] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>From: Chris Taylor <Christopher.Taylor@man.ac.uk>
>Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>Subject: Re: The Demise of a Meme
>Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 10:56:10 +0000
>
>Paul Kammerer (is that how you spell it?). The Lamarckian guy. Killed
>because of the political implications of his stuff (not a suicide - the
>hole in his temple from the bullet was in the wrong side for his
>handedness). However this was also more a political killing, and one of
>the very few.
>
>What is perhaps more interesting though is the way that the vehicle
>(person or theory) for these scientific memes (fact, I think, is
>irrelevant in that it just fits our memeplexes - we could be right for
>the wrong reasons) has a fitness effect on those memes, and a vehicle
>can therefore die a 'professional' death - dicreditation - taking many
>good memes down with the bad.
>
>
Ugh..., I've tried to get my hands on Koestler's "Case of the Midwife Toad"
for the longest time. One of these days I'll luck out.
Wilkins has mentioned the Lysenko affair. I can't remember the exact story,
but Lysenko's brand of Lamarckism fit with Marxism somehow, to the detriment
of the Mendelians and Soviet agriculture.
Unfortunately, this could be used as one of many billy clubs against
Lamarckism, its association with a very unsavory part of history. Wasn't
Lysenkoism a reason why the Soviet agriculture was so bad and they needed to
import grain? What was vernalization BTW?
I like *some* dissidents though. Re-reading Goldschmidt is a special treat,
for even though I'm not buying into his saltational hopeful monsterish
extremes, there might be some other aspects of his views which aren't so
bad. Phenocopies? I don't think anybody got killed over Goldschmidtian
views. Derided possibly...
For those into trivial pursuit, Alfred Kinsey (sexologist and gall wasp
expert) is cited by Goldschmidt AND Mayr. Kinda nifty.
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