Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id TAA09246 (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 19:30:40 +0100 From: "salice" <salice@gmx.net> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 20:22:51 +0000 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: RE: Memes inside brain In-reply-to: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3102A6D076@inchna.stir.ac.uk> Message-Id: <E15qf6m-00073V-00@dryctnath.mmu.ac.uk> Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> What makes you certain that the publisher makes this decision
> autonomously?
Because such cases exist.
> 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.
This also exists.
> 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.
Hm i kind of see now that i took a bad example.
> 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.
Okay i see your point. There's cultural force. I agree to that. But
still in this cultural environment there are different
publishers who have different tastes. Some might only be greedy for
money but some might want to publish certain books which they like.
> 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.
Yes this is a good example So there is
cultural force which 'forbids' certain things at a given time. BUT
who builds this culture? For example in germany you can't buy
'Mein Kampf' by Hitler NOW but 60 years ago the situation was
different, the cultural force was different. And this cultural force
was different because of people, people who burned books on the
street and which made 'Mein Kampf' a known book.
So cultural force comes from people too.
> 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.
The individuals brain has to work in context, i agree. But how it
works and selects memes in this context is different among people
tho! Furtheron the individuals brain especially together with others
can change the context!
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