Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id WAA17368 (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 22:26:00 GMT X-Originating-IP: [194.117.133.84] From: "Steve Drew" <srdrew_1@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Three Scientists and thier Gods Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 22:21:37 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <F92UHw2w6fZedrdRDov0001d575@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 22 Jan 2002 22:21:37.0553 (UTC) FILETIME=[28591010:01C1A393] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Date: Tue, 22 Jan 2002 11:16:33 -0500
From: "Lawrence DeBivort" <debivort@umd5.umd.edu>
Subject: RE: Three Scientists and Their Gods
I agree with Richard.
The term "meme" has served some of us well (not that those who find it
useful necessarily agree on all its aspects :-) ) and it seems
unnecessarily time-consuming and circuitous to adopt another word
instead,
and then spend our time defining it to distinguish, e.g., between
'general
replicators' and 'memetic replicators.' Many will find what I am about
to
say as undeservedly optimistic, but in my view we have developed the
core
theory of memetics, and should now be on to exploring its ramifications
for
sister sciences (e.g. information and communications, sociology,
evolution,
systems theory, political science, history, brain neurology, etc.) There
lies ahead of us much to be discovered, and many insights useful to
ourselves and others to be generated. Who will move in this direction?
I find nothing wrong with being optomistic and don't see any reason why your
proposal should not be tried.
My own experience in this area is as follows. I've recently graduated as a
mature student in sociology and social psychology, and in general have
found that few of my tutors were either willing to acknowledge that it had
anything to offer, and were even less willing to actually learn anything
about it! Like many things that are"new" it takes time and hard work to get
it into the mainstream. But i'm not going anywhere and i see that memetics
can have a use in the social sciences. It may prove to be phlogiston, but
the only way to find out is to explore. It could turn out to be oxygen.
steve
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