Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id UAA24715 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 30 Nov 2001 20:37:10 GMT Message-ID: <006601c179de$3e32c5e0$44c1b3d1@teddace> From: "Dace" <edace@earthlink.net> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <001001c16c62$3552d3e0$3524f4d8@teddace> <0111211504020D.01049@storm.berkeley.edu> <004501c176f6$706febe0$8788b2d1@teddace> <01112816595402.01083@storm.berkeley.edu> <005d01c178a4$7b425940$13c1b3d1@teddace> <20011129083627.C1366@ii01.org> Subject: Re: Debunking pseudoscience: Why horoscopes really work Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 12:33:15 -0800 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> On Wed, Nov 28, 2001 at 11:07:14PM -0800, Dace wrote:
> >
> > Whatever is genetically programmed now had to be consciously learned
when it
> > first evolved. Every function of the body had to be built up through
> > learning and imitation.
>
> I sometimes sympathise with some of the things you say, but that is
> absolute bullshit. Genetic mutation is random, it does NOT follow
> learning, imitation or anything else whatsoever.
>
> --
> Robin Faichney
Who says evolution is reducible to genetic mutation? The only thing we can
say for sure is that organisms can't develop and species can't evolve except
to the extent that they in some way retain forms and behaviors from their
past. The radical notion that memory is stored in genes remains unproven.
We have no reason to believe that memory in its natural state works
according to the same principles as artificial memory. This is merely
anthropic projection. It's a meme that exploits our unconscious need to be
the center of the universe.
Darwin insisted repeatedly that evolutionary theory depends on a mechanism
by which learned behavior is incorporated into species memory. Organisms
adapt to their environment, and these acquired adaptations become
instinctive in subsequent generations. Without this, he maintained, the
whole theory is shot.
A theory of living memory is inherently more plausible if it treats
evolution the way Darwin did, as something that follows naturally from
learning and imitation.
Ted
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