Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id RAA02510 (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 17:07:56 +0100 Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2001 09:04:01 -0700 From: Bill Spight <bspight@pacbell.net> Subject: Re: A Test To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Message-id: <3BBDD9F1.379FC906@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: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3102A6D069@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Dear Vincent,
> <Commit suicide now.>
> <White people are stupid gay racist fucks.>
> <Reply to this mail now.>
>
> Two things here. First, none of these are memes the first and last
> are instructions/suggestions depending on one's interpretations, the middle
> one is a statement. Such things may only become memes if they are
> replicated, transmitted by people you've sent them to.
There are real theoretical problems with requiring that something has to
be actually replicated, rather than replicable, to be a meme.
A gene is not just a strand of DNA, of course. But genetic material, DNA
and RNA, can replicate and evolve without being genes. Experiments have
been done to show that. What distinguishes a gene from other DNA is
where it is. That, of course, has to do with its role in the
reproduction of organisms.
Suppose that a person learns two different chunks of information. One he
passes on, one he does not. What distinguishes them? If we say that the
only theoretical distinction is that one is passed on, that raises the
question of why? Is there some mysterious memetic force that makes one
chunk replicate while the other does not?
If we are going to distinguish memes from other culturally replicable
material, the fact of transmission is not the way to do it. The purpose
of memetic theory is to explain cultural inheritance. If we simply
determine what is a meme by the fact that it is culturally inherited, we
are mumbling tautologies.
BTW, not all genes are inherited. A non-viable mutation is still a gene.
:-)
Best,
Bill
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