Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id MAA00821 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 29 Mar 2001 12:42:04 +0100 Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745D30@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Memetic Paradigms Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2001 12:38:12 +0100 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
sheep
> ----------
> From: Chris Taylor
> Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 10:49 am
> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: Memetic Paradigms
>
> joedees@bellsouth.net wrote:
> >
> > The gene paradigm fails because genes do not mutate as
> > memes do; they are either transmitted, or they aren't, and either
> > survive as they are, or die with their unsuccessful host as they are.
> > The viral paradigm fails because, even though they mutate (there
> > seems to be a different strain of flu every year) viral infections do
> > not have to compete with many other differing viral types for their
> > niches; it is as if only one form of life makes it, or doesn't, in its
> > environing ecosphere. But the idea of an environing memetic
> > ecosphere is a valid one. A third paradigm has been largely
> > ignored - the species paradigm. Memes, like species, have to find
> > niches in a surrounding ecosphere, along with other, different
> > memes, and both themselves mutate and alter their environment to
> > secure such niches. They are not isolable atoms, like genes,
> > because their existence includes their relations; memes
> > necessarily relate to other memes, and these relations is part and
> > parcel of what constitutes the significances of the memes. It is as
> > if memes are interplanetarily traveling species; their mutations
> > adapting to and changing each cognitive ecology into which they
> > journey, and coming to dynamically equilibrational terms with the
> > differing already present species which they find from environment
> > to environment, or, if they fail to do so, not being able to populate
> > the new environment.
>
> Truly a man after my own heart. The group selectionist stuff needs a
> closer look in this context - there seems to be competition between
> whole stuctures of memes/species in a way that is (I think) pretty rare
> in the world of ecosystems.
>
> Tangent: Is 'species' the only word which has no plural form, except in
> abbreviation?
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Chris Taylor (chris@bioinf.man.ac.uk)
> http://bioinf.man.ac.uk/ »people»chris
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> ===============================================================
> This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
> Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
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> see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
>
===============================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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