Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA25110 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:36:44 +0100 From: "Lawrence DeBivort" <debivort@umd5.umd.edu> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: The Status of Memetics as a Science Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 10:35:46 -0400 Message-ID: <NEBBKOADILIOKGDJLPMAKEJACCAA.debivort@umd5.umd.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook IMO, Build 9.0.2416 (9.0.2910.0) X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2919.6600 In-Reply-To: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745DD2@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Importance: Normal Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
One would think that with their ability to generate knowledge, academic
folks would have a leg up in influencing policy. Generally, though, to
influence policy one has to be engaged in the institutions and processes in
which policy is generated, and it seems that this where many academics balk,
preferring the purer atmosphere of the campus. Noted academics who ventured
with great success into the policy world, such a Salk and Sagan, can become
the objects of sniping by colleagues who remain on campus. The propensity
for inter-collegial sniping that seems, to me, to mark academia and is
defended as part of the process of finding truth, does not translate well
into the world of policy formulation. This is a loss for everyone, IMO.
A question to my fellow list-members here....
What would you recommend regarding the policy implications of memetics, if
any?
- Lawrence
-----Original Message-----
From: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk [mailto:fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk]On Behalf
Of Vincent Campbell
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 9:54 AM
To: 'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'
Subject: RE: The Status of Memetics as a Science
Academics invariably have little or no social status when it comes to policy
formation, certainly not in cultural terms. As much as some of my
colleagues like to think otherwise, we are extremely inconsequential in
terms of public attitudes, which evolve almost in complete isolation from
the concerns of most academics. To what extent it's our fault is another
matter, but I don't see it as the only factor in this ineffectiveness.
Vincent
> ----------
> From: Lawrence DeBivort
> Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2001 5:52 pm
> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Subject: RE: The Status of Memetics as a Science
>
>
>
>
>
> From: "TJ Olney" <market@cc.wwu.edu>
> > If you think "memetic engineering" doesn't happen, you are sadly
> mistaken.
> > It is the heart of politics and the soul of commerce. The research
> budgets
> > of companies, advertising agencies, and public relations firms are
> enormous.
> > I'd bet there are even professionals in all three fields lurking in the
> > membership of this list. Why? Because, science or not, there are
> profoundly
> > practical implications for how to tailor campaigns of any kind to spread
> > points of view and sell products.
>
> In further support of your comments, I'd add that a scientific
> understanding
> of memetics can help humanity to avoid the kind of misuse practiced by
> propagandists. The dismissal of memetics by social commentators serves to
> make
> it a more powerful tool in the hands of miscreants (in my meme-ridden
> opinion).
>
> --J. R.
>
> LdB:
> I only wish this were true, that academic understanding can rein in abuse.
> We already know, academically, how manipulative comsumerism is on both
> kids
> and adults, yet nothing is done, at least in the US, to put a damper on
> it.
> Credit card debt is at an all time high, shopping is promoyed as a
> recreation, and personal savings and investment, in the US, are among the
> lowest per capita in the industrialized world.
>
> Fortunately, some (smallish) portion of the teen population seem to be
> renouncing consumerism, but it is with no thanks to the academics. It is,
> I
> beleive based on anecdotal evidence, because they sense the inherent
> unhealthiness of a consumerist orientation.
>
> - Lawrence
>
>
> ===============================================================
> 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
>
===============================================================
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
===============================================================
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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