Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA27784 (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 15:27:32 +0100 From: "salice" <salice@gmx.net> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 16:19:03 +0000 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Re: What/Who selects memes? In-reply-to: <20011003132941.AAA8900@camailp.harvard.edu@[128.103.125.215]> Message-Id: <E15omwm-0006Nh-00@dryctnath.mmu.ac.uk> Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Saying anything has evolutionary 'purpose' is dangerous.
But it's done. Eyes, mouth, arms, legs, everything part of the body
is explained in having a purpose.
> If culture, an
> emergent property of social groupings of homo sapiens, has been selected
> for, then, there it is.
It is there because it survived. Sometime in history the first
mutants who would be able to build up cultures emerged. If this
would have killed them this property wouldn't have survived.
> What evolutionary 'purpose' does cellular
> structure have?
I guess cellular structure won against other structures, so
that's why it's there. It used the earths resources in the best way
to keep itself alive.
> Does the earth have?
The earth exists because it 'adapts' to physical laws.
This is an evolutionary view on matter and energy which i don't
completely agree with. When i think of evolution i think of beings
who want to survive and spread their dna. Therefore their features
have the purpose to do exactly that.
> >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.
Oh no.. everybody finds different things beautiful.
> efficacy is in question, however. What people regard as beautiful is
> fluctuating constantly.
Yep.
> People were just as varied in body shape in
> Rubens' time as they are now.
But which people were considered to be beautiful was different.
This is the difference between personal appreciation of beauty and
cultural appreciation of it.
> Diets as fads, though, might be a new
> thing. And fads are just that, quick-growing offshoots of culture's tree.
All new elements of culture are basically first fads. It depends on
the viewpoint. When some fad stays alive long enough it might become
a normal accepted part of culture.
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Oct 03 2001 - 15:32:47 BST