Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id VAA17262 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Tue, 22 Jan 2002 21:47:05 GMT X-Originating-IP: [137.110.248.206] From: "Grant Callaghan" <grantc4@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: necessity of mental memes Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 13:42:44 -0800 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <LAW2-F26mX2VnTz0ICN0000aedb@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 22 Jan 2002 21:42:44.0852 (UTC) FILETIME=[B9F32340:01C1A38D] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>
>I was under the impression that the level of choice in accepting or
>rejecting memes is one of the things that is still very much undeceided.
>Although i agree that contagion and virus are emotionally charged, i am
>hard
>pressed to think of something that could replace them. For me memes and
>acceptance/ rejection run through a range from choice to no choice, and the
>ability of various people to accept/reject varies th same. For the no
>choice
>my idea is that the meme in question may fit with your own collection of
>memes very closely that you accept them without the necessary scrutiny
>that something that conflicted with them would command.
>if i understand Susan Blackmore's book correctly, then she believes we have
>no choice whatsoever.
>
>steve
>
I only state here what I believe. I don't expect everyone else to believe
it, too. I wrote an open letter to Susan explaining my view and why it was
different from hers. I doubt she ever saw it, but several other members of
this forum have come forth to take her side of the arguement.
My view is based on the idea that memes are chosen by people for their
useability rather than the people being chosen by the memes. I see memes as
the tools we use to build our culture and hold our society together. What
memes we choose and discard (or let fall by the wayside) is a function of
how well they enable us to do the job we are attempting to do. If I want a
woman to marry me, there is a collection of courtship memes I can draw upon
to help me convince her.
The memes I choose will depend on my impressions of her and what I think
will apeal to her. If my choices are wrong, I lose and I'm not likely to
make the same choices again. If she accepts me, my choices have been proven
correct and I am likely to tell everyone else who faces the same problem
what worked for me. That perpetuates the successful memes and spreads them
among the people I communicate with.
That's the process as I see it working. There may be more to it than what I
see, as there is more to just about everything than what I see. I don't
think I'm alone in that. Other views may be more useful than my own, but I
haven't been able to incorporate them into my particular world view yet.
I'm still working on my "Theory of Everything."
Grant ;-)>
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