Re: Darwinizing Culture: The Status of Memetics as a Science

From: Scott Chase (ecphoric@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Apr 18 2001 - 23:09:33 BST

  • Next message: J. R. Molloy: "Re: analog computing = useless hypothesis" 

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From: "Scott Chase" <ecphoric@hotmail.com>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Darwinizing Culture: The Status of Memetics as a Science
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 18:09:33 -0400
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    >From: "J. R. Molloy" <jr@shasta.com>
    >Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
    >To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
    >Subject: Re: Darwinizing Culture: The Status of Memetics as a Science
    >Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 08:50:21 -0700
    >
    >From: "Vincent Campbell" <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk>
    > > Thanks we know...
    >
    >Sorry about the duplication.
    >
    > > (BTW, nice crack about religion...)
    >
    >Thank you. I consider religion one of the most dangerous and insidious meme
    >systems.
    >
    Religion is typically about following after entities which possibly don't
    even exist. Memetics could be in the same ballpark, but I wonder if this
    means memetics too is dangerous and insiduous.
    >
    >Best regards,
    >
    >--J. R.
    >
    >Useless hypotheses:
    > consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
    >analog computing, cultural relativism
    >
    > Everything that can happen has already happened, not just once,
    > but an infinite number of times, and will continue to do so forever.
    > (Everything that can happen = more than anyone can imagine.)
    >
    >
    Has J. R. Molloy, a unique part of history, happened an infinite number of
    times? Will J. R. Molloy continue to do so forever? If we rewound the tape
    of life back to the Burgess shale and pushed play, would humans (including
    myself and J.R. Molloy) have happened again as an obligatory part of
    history? Were we inevitable? Was our unique existence contingent on a
    particular series of events?

    Have given species (eg- *H. sapiens*) evolved more than once and will they
    continue to do so in endless repetition? That would be an odd assertion.

    Are there possibilties never actualized?

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