Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id OAA10226 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 28 Aug 2001 14:50:22 +0100 Message-ID: <3B8BA0BC.9E20BD74@bioinf.man.ac.uk> Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2001 14:46:36 +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: Coordinated behavior among birds, fish, and insects References: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101746042@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Loathed as I am to give to some help with this theory, but perhaps a
> better example than a flock of birds in flight for your arguments, might be
> a slime mold particularly when all those cells seem to conglomerate and move
> like a much larger single organism. Does Sheldrake have any views on slime
> molds?
Slime moulds really are simple to explain (as someone has more or less
done in a recent post). Fish are easier than birds, because they have
the 'lateral line' organs either side of their body (practically all
fish - look halfway down the flank paralleling the body axis - line of
tiny dots - each a pit with a tiny sensory hair - and a fast nerve line
to fast twitch white muscle as well as upstairs). Mass movement in fish
is therefore piss easy to explain, because you're looking at a
combination of speed of sound in water (pretty fast) and very short
reaction times in the fish.
> >> Wouldn't all social insects disperse on the death of the central
> >> queen?
>
> <They lose their social behavior instantaneously, before the message
> has had
> > a chance to be transmitted chemically.>
> >
> I doubt this very much indeed. What about the chemical messages
> exuded by the dead queen themself that would waft through the mound with
> some rapidity? There could be all sorts of highly subtle indicators that
> produce what appears to be an instantaneous cease of social behaviour. Did
> the experimenter genuinely observe every singly termite/ant (remember some
> species have up to 20 million individuals in a nest)?
Or air or solid sub/ultrasonics, or some sort of EM pulse (if you wanna
get weird).
> <Ultimately, memetics will sink or swim with morphics.>
>
> Yeah, that's what's beginning to worry me...
My god I hope not, that's like linking astronomy to astrology.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Taylor (chris@bioinf.man.ac.uk)
http://bioinf.man.ac.uk/ »people»chris
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