Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id OAA10713 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 9 Oct 2001 14:46:34 +0100 Message-id: <fc.005b8ff100f07a94005b8ff100f07a94.f07c35@amazon.shu.ac.uk> Date: Tue, 09 Oct 2001 14:45:28 +0100 Subject: The selfish Signifier Paradox was Re: Memes inside brain To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk From: "Ilfryn PRICE(SED)" <I.Price@shu.ac.uk> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Sender: fmb-bounces@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Bill
>Recently I have been talking about the problems of the meme-in-brain. I
think that the main problem for external memes lies in the question of
meaning>
I normally fail to get enmthused by the internal versus external debate, but here you make a good
point.
Conceive of a meme as a discourse, in the Saussure / Derrida / Faoucalt tradition. 'Signifier'
fidelity is indeed a useful replicative trick. Fidelity of meaning -'signified' fidelity- is
frequently not. The 'meme' meme gets replicated every time we (or our particular memeplexes)
participate in debates about what it signifies, or use it to signify what we (again or our
particular memeplexes) happen to mean by it. Exapting Dawkins I propose terrming it the phenomenon
of the Selfish Signifier.
If
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