Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id TAA00516 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Fri, 8 Feb 2002 19:27:03 GMT X-Originating-IP: [194.117.133.84] From: "Steve Drew" <srdrew_1@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: ply to Grant Date: Fri, 08 Feb 2002 19:21:21 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <F1637Qs6hvfPAZScXrb0000d5b7@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 08 Feb 2002 19:21:21.0801 (UTC) FILETIME=[CAAE0790:01C1B0D5] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2002 20:36:10 -0800
From: "Grant Callaghan" <grantc4@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: ply to Grant
Again, we seem to be talking about different things. I'm looking at
evolutionary fitness, which is defined in terms of survival, no matter
how
they achieve it. You seem to be talking about fitness in terms of one
product or animal being better for some purpose than another. You may
find
the Mac a superior computer for your uses, but as far as propagation and
evolution are concerned, the IBM PC and Microsoft Windows have managed
to
pervade a larger portion of the space available than their competitors.
It
isn't a strike against the horse that it survived by striking a
symbiotic
relationship with people. There are more of them now than there ever
were.
That's success in my book.
The concepts about manufacturing that Ford invented and were built on by
his
successors and associates still pervade the automobile manufacturing
culture
and that applies around the world. That's a viable measure of success
from
an evolutionary point of view. We're still making cars pretty much as
Henry
made them, but with lots of new features added. Whether you like Henry
or
not, the culture he built was successful. It still exists. It exists
now
in other cultures besides America. Despite the fact that other men came
along and made cars better than the Ford factories made, they still used
the
principles of manufacturing that Ford created first. They used the same
distribution system and ideas about making the car affordable for the
common
man. That was a relatively new idea when Ford set up his system. Many
car
makers thought it wouldn't work.
Anyway, I'm trying to show how a culture devloped by a person made the
billions I've been talking about. Other people, using his ideas or
memes,
also made millions and billions of dollars. The company still carries
his
name and his children and grandchildren are still involved in it. In a
young species like we are, that's a pretty good record of survival of
the
fit, if not the fittest.
Grant<
I was trying to get the point across that what constitutes success in
evolutionary terms is not how many, but whether. I agree with your many of
your comments but think that what constitutes success and fitness is whether
a *thing* exists or not. Humans are still extant and therefore a success ie
fit. Many other species are no longer around. Therefore no longer fit or
successful. The quantity or size of an object, IMO, has no baring on its
fittness or success, merely whether the species or idea is still around.
Anything else is a judgement call and dependant on future conditions.
Yes, individuals and their ideas can have enormous effects on their culture.
I just have a tendency to look at the effects that the idea may have rather
than the idea itself. Hope i have clarified myself a bit.
Regards
Steve
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