Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id BAA17736 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 2 May 2001 01:52:51 +0100 Message-ID: <20010502004909.68799.qmail@web10103.mail.yahoo.com> Date: Tue, 1 May 2001 17:49:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Trupeljak Ozren <ozren_trupeljak@yahoo.com> Subject: RE: The Status of Memetics as a Science (species dominance) To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk In-Reply-To: <F208KgXhLy4WnQAn77f00001c7b@hotmail.com> Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="0-1610407963-988764549=:68666" Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
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--- Scott Chase <ecphoric@hotmail.com> wrote:
Bacteria have been around for a long time. There's something to be said for longevity. And the various types of bacteria have exploited all kinds of places we would find inhospitable. I admit "bacteria" is a catch-all word which refers to a whole bunch of diverse organisms having various timespans on Earth.
OK. According to the previously stated criteria, how does that make them dominant? (and I agree, we are talking about a set of species that is probably far larger then the set of all the other species on Earth; find me one specific species of bacteria and try to show how is it superior to humans..)
Pay no mind to ferns, cycads, conifers, and angiosperms. Pay no mind to insect-flower coevolution. What do we breathe and where does it come from and where would we be without oxygen producers? I suppose axes and chain saws do make us dominant over green life.
Again, we are talking about the dominance of one species. And our widespread destruction of these habitats shows that we do have the power over them. Power is a key factor of dominance, no?
>That is why this short period of about last 5000years is the Age of Men.
How about humans?
I do not understand. What did you want to say with that?
Whick sharks? "Sharks" too is a general term, referring to a bunch of different species.
Check it out on :http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/sharks.htm
They would not be talking about conservation of a number of species, if they were not in trouble.
If you want to use our ability to wreak havoc as a standard of dominance, I guess you have a point there, though not one for us to be very proud about.OTOH if dominance was indexed by sheer numbers within a species, would we be the victors? I don't have any data on comparison of species (including humans) as to total number of members now inhabiting Earth. Are we the most numerous species on Earth? What about our collective biomass compared to other species? What about things which claim us as a habitat? We may dominate here and there on the exterior, what about our interiors?
Numbers of individuals do not make a species dominant (bacteria and protosoa clearly win that one). Biomass doesn’t have any correlation with dominance either (just take into account the biomass of, for example, anchovies, or many other species of fish). As for things that claim us as a habitat, we have shown that our modern medicine can deal with most of them; and offers hope that it will be able to deal with all of them in foreseeable future.
Again, if you agree on the dominance criteria that I proposed, then we are clearly dominant. If there are some other criteria, please state them, I am sure that we can only improve on what I, basically, invented on the spot.
And the whole deal with dominance arose from my idea that behind it, lies our unique capablity to mass produce and manipulate (evolve) memes.
(btw, thanks for making my brain work ! ;)
There are very few man - and they are exceptions - who are able to think and feel beyond the present moment.
Carl von Clausewitz
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