Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id IAA04328 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 9 Jan 2002 08:13:54 GMT To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Message-Id: <AA-0E749BBF44B1874CFFF8651350E0A843-ZZ@maillink1.prodigy.net> Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 03:09:52 -0500 From: "Philip Jonkers" <philipjonkers@prodigy.net> Subject: Re: Wade's hammer Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>Been away (I've got a seven week old son now!) but
wanted to join in=20
>(haven't read the back posts yet...)
>
>> And all I have to do to come to this conclusion is
say, Harry Potter.
>
>
>But what you can't say is "Harry Potter and the
Philosopher's Stone" cos
>
>it was renamed for the US release. Bear in mind
that 'species' is not
>
>really all that great a concept - very fuzzy - c.f.
Drosophila species
>complexes - some can interbreed, some partially
interbreed, some matings
>
>are sterile, some never mate (but *could* have
fertile offspring but for
>the behavioural constraints). Beware when people say
*can't* mate; they
>often just mean don't under normal circumstances. And
plants! What a=20
>bloody mess (partly because plant architecture is
more robust).
Why do we even have to talk about `species' in culture.
The only field where it is valuable is Biology and
even there as Chris points out (and I did too some
months ago) you run into all kinds of difficulties
produced by border-cases for instance.
Culture and biology are both evolutionary processes,
but that doesn't mean that a property present in one
is also featured in the other. I again refer to
Blackmore's The Meme Machine who can tell you more.
By the way, congrats Chris with your son... Cheers!
Philip.
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