Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id RAA12964 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 17 Aug 2001 17:20:28 +0100 Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 09:18:39 -0700 From: Bill Spight <bspight@pacbell.net> Subject: Re: Logic To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Message-id: <3B7D43DF.64D3C708@pacbell.net> Organization: Saybrook Graduate School X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 [en]C-CCK-MCD {Yahoo;YIP052400} (Win95; U) Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT X-Accept-Language: en References: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101746014@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Dear Vincent,
> <For instance, not only agriculture but similar building designs
> appeared
> > independently in several locations around the earth.>
> >
> At very different times. One of the basic problems with the
> pyramids, instance is that Egyptian and Mayan pyramids emerged centuries
> apart (not to mention that they served completely different purposes- tombs
> for the former, and temples for the latter). And how come lots of other
> peoples around the world didn't start building pyramids? (never seen in
> Europe, or south of the Nubian versions in Africa, or in Asia etc.).
IIRC, I saw on TV not too long ago that pyramids have been built in
several places, not just by Egyptians and Mayans. They all have been
tombs, even Mayan pyramids. If you think of a pyramid as a specialized
burial mound, burial mounds are quite widespread.
But to bolster your point: Architecture is no argument for MR.
Similarity of form can be explained by constraints on the utilization of
resources and by psychological universals of aesthetic. The
transformation of burial mounds into pyramids reflects such an aesthetic
universal.
Best,
Bill
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