Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id OAA27598 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 3 Oct 2001 14:34:48 +0100 Subject: Re: What/Who selects memes? Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 09:28:47 -0400 x-sender: wsmith1@camail2.harvard.edu x-mailer: Claris Emailer 2.0v3, Claritas Est Veritas From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu> To: "memetics list" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Message-ID: <20011003132941.AAA8900@camailp.harvard.edu@[128.103.125.215]> Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On 10/02/01 21:13, salice said this-
>Is it really that important where it came from? I'm more interested
>in what evolutionary purpose it has.
Saying anything has evolutionary 'purpose' is dangerous. If culture, an
emergent property of social groupings of homo sapiens, has been selected
for, then, there it is. What evolutionary 'purpose' does cellular
structure have? Does the earth have?
>Aesthetics differ between cultures.
The main point of the study of aesthetics is to discover what does _not_
differ. Cultures differ. The appreciation of beauty, IMHO, does not.
>Why do people do diets these
>days and would they have done it in Rubens times?
Diets are done for many reasons, too many to start to mention. Their
efficacy is in question, however. What people regard as beautiful is
fluctuating constantly. People were just as varied in body shape in
Rubens' time as they are now. Diets as fads, though, might be a new
thing. And fads are just that, quick-growing offshoots of culture's tree.
- Wade
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