Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id LAA23791 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 13 Jun 2001 11:50:48 +0100 Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745F05@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Homosexuality taboo-gene interaction hypothesis, etc. Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 11:28:59 +0100 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Filter-Info: UoS MailScan 0.1 [D 1] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
I quite understand. I think I tend to use the list as a bit of displacement
activity away from what I should be doing far too often.
Vincent
> ----------
> From: Aaron Lynch
> Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2001 7:27 pm
> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Subject: RE: Homosexuality taboo-gene interaction hypothesis, etc.
>
> At 02:26 PM 6/11/2001 +0100, Vincent Campbell wrote:
> >Hi Aaron,
> >
> >Long time no see. It might be nice if you sometimes joined in outwith of
> >stuff related to comments about your book.
> >
> >Interesting consideration of pre-cursors to Dawkins, though.
> >
> >Vincent
>
> Hi Vincent.
>
> I don't mean to neglect all those other topics, or to devalue discussion.
> Rather, I am staying focused further research, elaboration, and writing
> about the earlier topics as I also work on new topics. It's just hard to
> keep so many things going all at once and maintain discussion at the same
> time. Some researchers don't have any time at all for listservers, and
> some
> find they must limit the number of people who know their email addresses.
>
> --Aaron Lynch
>
>
>
> > > ----------
> > > From: Aaron Lynch
> > > Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> > > Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 5:53 pm
> > > To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> > > Subject: Homosexuality taboo-gene interaction hypothesis, etc.
> > >
> > > I was recently asked to comment on a paper that appears to address one
> of
> > > the many hypotheses I advanced in my 1996 book Thought Contagion: How
> > > Belief Spreads Through Society (Basic Books). This was the hypothesis
> > > about propagating homosexuality taboos causing increases in
> > > homosexuality-inclining genotype frequencies, and of the increasing
> gene
> > > frequencies subsequently favoring the spread of ideas that reverse the
> > > taboos.
> > >
> > > My present communication will not comment on the paper for which I was
> > > asked to comment, nor make a new attempt at discourse with its author.
> > > Rather, I will point out just a few basic facts about my hypothesis.
> > >
> > > 1. The hypothesis was advanced in the 1996 book Thought Contagion, and
> was
> > > only lightly summarised in my contribution to Journal of Artifical
> > > Societies and Social Simulation, volume 2.
> > >
> > > 2. There is no discussion in any of my work about these taboos having
> an
> > > inverse proportionality to frequencies of homosexuality. Nor did I
> intend
> > > any implicit suggestion to that effect. (To the contrary, if
> tendencies
> > > toward homosexuality were uniformly zero in 100% of the population, I
> > > would not even expect the taboos to evolve in the first place.)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > None of this is to say that the 1996 book was offered as the ultimate
> or
> > > perfect work in evolutionary cultural replicator theory. In
> particular,
> > > the book misattributes the theoretical paradigm of evolutionary
> cultural
> > > replicator theory to Richard Dawkins's 1976 book The Selfish Gene
> (Oxford
> > > University Press). The Selfish Gene actually cites the work of F.T.
> Cloak
> > > modest 1975 paper "Is a Cultural Ethology Possible?," [Human Ecology
> 3(3):
> > > p. 161-181], but that paper in turn cites Cloak's much more elaborated
> > > 1973 paper "Elementary self-replicating instructions and their works:
> > > Toward a radical reconstruction of general anthropology through a
> general
> > > theory of natural selection" presented at the Ninth International
> Congress
> > > of Anthropological and Ethnological Studies. I have had a copy of that
> > > paper since 1979, but had forgotten its publication preceded the
> > > publication of Dawkins's 1976 book by 3 years. A scanned copy of the
> paper
> > > is now online at http://www.thoughtcontagion.com/cloak1973.htm. Cloak
> had
> > > also done extensive empirical work on cultural evolution, such as the
> > > field work that led to his 1966 dissertation "A Natural Order of
> Cultural
> > > Adoption and Loss in Trinidad," done at the University of Wisconsin at
> > > Madison. As evolutionists, we often ask people to accept that complex
> life
> > > forms are descended from simpler ones, and that complex cultures are
> > > descended from simpler ones, rather than being divinely created or
> > > intentionally handed down to earth from the heavens. In the case of
> > > evolutionary cultural replicator theory itself, it turns out that the
> > > theoretical paradigm had what some would consider "humble" origins, as
> > > distinct from being handed down from the heights of the academic
> prestige
> > > system. In any case, the 1973 Cloak paper receives proper credit in a
> > > recent book contribution, "Evolutionary Contagion in Mental Software"
> in
> > > Robert J. Sternberg and James C. Kaufman (eds.) The Evolution of
> > > Intelligence (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates), due out this month. Some
> > > further comments on the early history of Cloak's work and the word
> "meme"
> > > are in the first two sections and first two footnotes of "Units,
> Events,
> > > and Dynamics in the Evolutionary Epidemiology of Ideas" at
> > > http://www.thoughtcontagion.com/UED.htm.
> > >
> > >
> > > --Aaron Lynch
> > >
>
>
> ===============================================================
> This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
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>
>
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