>Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>Subject: Re: The Demise of a Meme
>Date: Sun, 25 Mar 2001 11:16:51 -0600
>
>On 25 Mar 2001, at 10:48, Robin Faichney wrote:
>
> > On Sat, Mar 24, 2001 at 03:41:03PM -0600, joedees@bellsouth.net wrote:
> > > On 24 Mar 2001, at 15:04, Robin Faichney wrote: > > > Your idea of
> > the self is quite well-defined, Joe -- as well-defined as > > it can
> > be, I think. But do you think that, when they use the word, > >
> > everyone else always means the same by it? > > > I can't think of a
> > single word that means the exact same thing to all > who use it.
> >
> > And you don't think you should allow for such equivocation when you
> > make statements about "the self"? If the word has different meanings,
> > surely statements made using it have variable truth values?
> >
>Given the meaning which I explicitly and definitionally attached to
>the word "self", the truth value of my statements concening same
>is a matter of scientific verification. There IS voluminous and
>comprehensive PET-scan verified evidence of top-down control, and
>there ARE measureable long-term changes engendered by
>education or conditioning, via the myelinization of neural pathways
>stimulated by the MAP-2 protein which is produced when a
>pathway is continuously used, as a result of the increased
>electrical stimulation of it. The self, and self-conscious awareness
>of it, as defined by me, indubitably DOES exist, and anyone who
>disputes same is by necessity being self-contradictory, in both
>senses of the term. Your pitiful and pathetic attempt at linguistic
>sophistry receives from me the attention it deserves, which is not
>much.
>
1. Though P.E.T. is somewhat of a top-down approach (excepting that one is focusing on the metabolism of a molecule in isotopic form, such as glucose, allowing for its detection and indexing of activity), how does P.E.T. slend support to a holistic or top-down or emergent model of mindbrain action? Any journal articles? Would one be able to read one of these articles and see a statement like: "Ladies and gentlemen...we have demonstrated existence of the self."? Or would it merely be grokked from the overall jist?
2. Is MAP-2 solely involved in myelinization?
3. What's the operational definition of the self used and how does this putative entity explicitly relate to P.E.T. methodology and/or myelinization? How does P.E.T. evidence lend support to the self concept and what are the molecular mechanims in myelinization which supposedly link up to conditioning and education (involving MAP-2 or other components)?
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: Mon Mar 26 2001 - 05:51:24 BST