Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id RAA12540 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 9 Jul 2001 17:11:35 +0100 Message-ID: <3B49D711.D6AFE308@bioinf.man.ac.uk> Date: Mon, 09 Jul 2001 17:08:49 +0100 From: Chris Taylor <Christopher.Taylor@man.ac.uk> Organization: University of Manchester X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (Windows NT 5.0; U) X-Accept-Language: en To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: sexual selection and memes References: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745F5D@inchna.stir.ac.uk> <000901c1065a$3e44bcc0$1201bed4@default> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Hi Ken. I think we're more or less on the same wavelength on this one.
The best analogy (or perhaps not so much an analogy as an explanation)
is the idea of the quasispecies, applied mostly to viruses (HIV for
example) where the 'species', such as it is, is defined by its centre
point in genotype space; but that point may not even be represented in
the population - it is just the average. Error rates are huge, but the
(quasi)species survives. This is in part because most of the correct
bits get through one way or another (but this only works well if the
viruses can recombine bits of genome, like 'flu can), however the main
reason is that in the (mostly) clonal copying, faulty lines of descent
are terminated, to be replaced with descendants of 'correct' parents;
like trees overtopping each other.
Btw I'm interested in your other info on Christianity - I'd certainly
never heard the Qumran one before (and I plan to read around it a bit -
all that fascinates me - like the similarities between Gilgamesh and the
Old Testament for example).
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Chris Taylor (chris@bioinf.man.ac.uk)
http://bioinf.man.ac.uk/ »people»chris
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