Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id BAA12645 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 4 Feb 2002 01:11:18 GMT Message-Id: <5.1.0.14.0.20020203200022.03c90a60@pop.cogeco.ca> X-Sender: hkhenson@pop.cogeco.ca X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1 Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 20:06:04 -0500 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk From: Keith Henson <hkhenson@cogeco.ca> Subject: Re: ply to Grant In-Reply-To: <F18808N8yxdZjfNLnly0000a073@hotmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
At 09:05 PM 03/02/02 +0000, "Steve Drew" <srdrew_1@hotmail.com>
wrote:
snip
>I don't share your opinion that memes are just a linguistic problem at
>the moment, though i do agree this is a very important area to examine.
>There is still the question of the extent of biological behaviour, where
>memetics takes over from biology, and what i would term the gene/meme
>feedback loop that that gave rise to society in the first place. (For
>anyone interested, an interesting article can be found
>at www.des.ucdavis.edu / faculty / richerson / speed, where they talk
>about the effect of enviroment on the human body and brain, and the
>beginnings of cultural adaption to the enviroment. This in turn could lead
>to the meme/gene feedback loop. The article is The Pliestocene and the
>Origins of Human Culture: Built For Speed, Boyd and Richerson, UCLA).
There is a wealth of good material on this site. I am going to have to
spend time reading through it. Alas! Due to an upcoming lecture it will
be a week before I can free up enough time to read it entirely. Here is a
great quote I found at
http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/Richerson/CambMeme.PDF
"Memes are not a universal acid, but they are a better mouse trap.
Population modeling of
culture offers social science useful conceptual tools, and handy
mathematical machinery
that will help solve important, longstanding problems. It is not a
substitute for rational
actor models, or careful historical analysis. But it can be an invaluable
complement to
these forms of analysis that will enrich the social sciences."
Keith Henson
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