Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id CAA29362 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 7 Jan 2002 02:37:42 GMT X-Originating-IP: [199.183.184.87] From: "Grant Callaghan" <grantc4@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: playing at suicide Date: Sun, 06 Jan 2002 18:33:09 -0800 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <LAW2-F309rxii9y7gJb00018490@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 07 Jan 2002 02:33:10.0171 (UTC) FILETIME=[A5A3CEB0:01C19723] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>I wonder that imitation, in any or all of its aspects, has anything
>whatsoever to do with real learning, and, moreover, if memetics has
>anything to do with anything.
>
>- Wade
Has anyone made any claims for a connection between imitation and "real
learning," whatever that is? It's merely a word used to describe a way of
passing tools of culture from one person to another. Whether those units
are of any use to society depends on what they are used for. The value of
something lies in its use rather than its existence.
You have obviously picked up enough of your own culture to chat on the
internet. That means you have learned to use the memes connected with
computers and the internet whether you attempted to do so or not. Whether
you call them memes or not is irrelevant. The process referred to by the
terms memes and memetics has worked on you. You picked up these tools by
imitation or other means and decided to use them to influence other people.
That, in a nutshell, is what memes are and what memes do.
If you decide not to call them memes, that's OK. A word is only useful to
people who decide to use it. It's just another meme like the rest of the
language tools you use. If you decide not to use it, no one will know and
no one will care. In that case, as far as you are concerned, they won't
have anything to do with anything. I, on the other hand, find them very
useful for understanding human language and culture. A hammer is, after
all, more useful to a carpenter than it is to a mathematician.
Grant
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