Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id MAA08219 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 8 Oct 2001 12:35:46 +0100 Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3102A6D076@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Memes inside brain Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 12:28:57 +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 Salice,
I'm going to jump in here. I can't respond to all your posts (even
though the one about structure and form was tempting, but I'm trying to get
Richard back on side, and reading my posts again- God knows why, he's
probably too busy watching MSNBC cheering every explosion).
<A publisher receives a transcript from a new author. He decides to
> publish the book. In my eyes his brain selected memes. Your
> explanation please.>
>
What makes you certain that the publisher makes this decision
autonomously? For a start when one talks of a publisher, you're actually
talking about a compeny employing many people, of whom this person is just
one. There decisions must be taken in accordance with the job they are
supposed to do- who lays out what that job should, i.e. what types of books
should be recommended for publication and so on. At the end of the day
publishers need to make money, so they are thus reliant on the tastes and
trends of their particular market.
In other words, whilst it is possible to see this situation as an
autonomous response to a transcript, it depends significantly on the
material and cultural environment in which the transcripts author, the
transcript itself, and the potential publisher. Let me give you a good
example- John Cleland's erotic novel 'Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of
Pleasure', got the author a jail term when he initially self-published the
book back in the late 18th early 19th century (I forget the exact date).
Today it is considered something of a classic, and can be bought in the
Penguin Pound Classics range, in any major bookstore in the UK.
In other words there are social and cultural pressures- some overt
that we're aware of, many we're not so aware of- that influence our
decision-making, including what trends to follow and so on. Context is
everything, it's not all about what's going on in an individual's brain.
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 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
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