Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id VAA07075 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sun, 10 Feb 2002 21:13:18 GMT Message-ID: <002301c1b27e$f65b8160$5e2ffea9@oemcomputer> From: "Philip Jonkers" <philipjonkers@prodigy.net> To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> References: <5.1.0.14.0.20020210113110.02c79a50@pop.cogeco.ca> Subject: Re: Memes Meta-Memes and Politics 1 of 3 (1988, updates 2002) Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2002 13:04:41 -0900 Organization: Prodigy Internet Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2615.200 X-Mimeole: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2615.200 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Keith:
> The new study is called memetics after "meme" (which rhymes with
> cream). "Meme" is a coined word from a Greek root for memory, and
> purposefully similar to "gene." Dawkins devoted the last chapter of his
> earlier book, The Selfish Gene, to defining memes and discussing the
> survival of these replicating information patterns within the meme-pool
> (roughly culture). "Meme" is close to "idea," but not all ideas are
> memes. An idea which fails to propagate beyond the person who first
> thinks of it is not a meme. "Beliefs," especially organized and promoted
> beliefs, are memes, or, depending on how you think about them,
> cooperating groups of memes. I will use memes, ideas, replicating
> information patterns, and beliefs as similar terms in this article.
I'm with Derek when he argues that beliefs by themselves are not memetic.
A state of belief may emerge from adopted memes though. For example, the
meme `god exists' is easily transmitted to everyone. The actual belief in
the meme
is quite a different story. A first requirement of believing it is that it
has
to be compatible with your religious worldview. Atheists don't believe it,
christians
do. The concepts `belief' and `meme' thus seem to behave independently.
Philip.
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