Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id LAA17768 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 2 Apr 2001 11:08:18 +0100 Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745D44@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: taboos Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2001 11:04:33 +0100 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
There's possibly something to this argument Douglas...
Certainly notions of public and private are important for defining the
boundaries of what can be discussed or not, and what can be done or not- and
the two things needn't be exactly the same.
Americans doing cold turkey, getting irritable (in the days before patches)
and deciding to vote for Reagan because they felt like blowing something up.
Hmmm... sounds highly plausible to me.
Vincent
> ----------
> From: Douglas Brooker
> Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Sent: Friday, March 30, 2001 7:39 pm
> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: taboos
>
>
>
> Vincent Campbell wrote:
>
> > Where many other taboos come from, and what makes some change widely
> over
> > time (e.g. attitudes over homosexuality) is what Kenneth and I were
> > discussing a while ago, so I won't repeat myself (well, any more than I
> have
> > already, no doubt too much for some).
>
> One aspect of this might be new: the distinction between public morality
> and
> private morality and the social contradictions it keeps in abeyance. Most
> of
> the examples I've seen on the list of specific collective behaviour relate
> to
> public events. What about changing private behaviour and its relation to
> public
> morality? Everyone knows changes in the voting habits of a small
> percentage of
> people can swing elections. I've wondered if the change of ethos from the
> 70's
> to the harder edged 80's in North America related to the fact that a
> critical
> mass of people quit smoking and the effects filtered through to society?
>
> There are many places in the world, perhaps outside of the USA, where in
> terms
> of public morality, homosexuality is a serious criminal offence;
> privately,
> however, it's so common that using the word 'normal' is appropriate - so
> long as
> it's private. Everybody does it, (men at least) in some places, no one
> talks
> about it, but everybody (males and females) knows (??) about it.
>
> The public-private discourse distinction has become much less distinct,
> since
> the 60's, in the US and elsewhere...but not everywhere.
>
>
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This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
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For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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