RE: What/who selects memes?

From: Vincent Campbell (v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk)
Date: Fri Oct 05 2001 - 12:23:10 BST

  • Next message: Vincent Campbell: "RE: A Test" 

    Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id MAA01976 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 5 Oct 2001 12:27:45 +0100
Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3102A6D068@inchna.stir.ac.uk>
From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk>
To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: What/who selects memes?
Date: Fri, 5 Oct 2001 12:23:10 +0100 
X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21)
Content-Type: text/plain
Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk
Precedence: bulk
Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk

            Hi,

            <Okay. Here's a meme for you: "God is dead."
    > Read it? Look at it again. Got it? Now look away and try to remember
    > it... Still there? Fine.>
    >
            Sorry to butt in, but here's where you miss Derek's point
    completely. The only demonstrably consistent feature of "God is dead", are
    the words, and the letters they are composed of. There is no identified
    physical structure that you can demonstrate exists in my mind and yours that
    relates to this. That we both use our brains to process that phrase is
    certain, but when we're talking about memes, we're talking about units of
    replication that should retain their form when being transmitted (otherwise
    they don't replicate). There's no evidence for a mechanism in the brain
    that does that, indeed it's been well argued (by Derek in the journal) that
    it is highly unlikely such a mechanism exists. All one is left with that
    can retain its form, and can clearly be transmitted is the artifact of the
    written phrase "God is dead".

            <Your theory like my theory lacks detailed description of how
    > memes get selected but i think my theory is based on observation
    > while your theory is not really based on anything which could explain
    > real-life situations.>
    >
            Check out his article in the journal.

            Vincent

    ===============================================================
    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 : Fri Oct 05 2001 - 12:33:07 BST