Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970620025853.0068bac4@popmail.mcs.net>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 02:58:53 -0500
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Aaron Lynch <aaron@mcs.net>
Subject: Re: Genetic fundamentalism. Was: Lynch on some taboo
In-Reply-To: <33AAA104.7E41@rug.ac.be>
Aaron Lynch responding to Mario Vaneechoutte:
Mario, you should at least read about my non-parental modes of replication
at http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/tc1.html, where you will find that I am
anything but a genetic fundamentalist. A true genetic funamentalist is one
who asserts that the masturbation taboo is encoded in DNA.
You might also find my religion chapter interesting for all the ways of
non-parental (horizontal) meme transmission, though horizontal transmission
comes up all over the book.
Dawkins endorsed THOUGHT CONTAGION largely because it takes the idea you
quote and goes much further with it.
>The constructs of Aaron Lynch on masturbation are what someone has
>called 'genetic fundamentalism': the attempt to explain every
>phenomenon, also cultural phenomena, by differences in reproductive
>success of the carriers. As such, the spread of any idea or behaviour
>has to be explained in terms of offering the reproductive advantage it
>offers. This is based on a terrible lot of wrong assumptions.
>
>E.g. I can have twenty children which all become very religious and thus
>none of them gets my memes. In other words: memes spread very easily
>horizontally, so you'd better be a Jesus Christ without children but
>with a lot of charisma - spreading your memes all over, than that you
>are a very fertile parent (according to Tim & Martha, people can know
>from this fact that you probably self abuse quite frequently as well)
>without time for spending time to the education of your children). This
>is so obvious.
>
>Why don't we just read what Dawkins has to say about it in The Selfish
>Gene in the meme chapter. Dawkins asks: "most colleagues of mine always
>want to find a biological advantage of cultural phenomena, but I'd say
>that we are dealing with a completely new kind of 'replicators'" (This
>is not at all a literal quote). This questioning of genetic
>fundamentalism is just at heart of the concept of memes.
>
>Explaining the success of religions, because they offer genetic
>advantage to an individual or a population is really not what memetics
>are about.
>The same is true for explaining taboos or any other meme.
>
>
>--
>Mario Vaneechoutte
>
>===============================================================
>This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
>Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
>For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
>see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
>
>
----Aaron Lynch
THOUGHT CONTAGION: How Belief Spreads Through Society The New Science of Memes Basic Books. Info and free sample: http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/thoughtcontagion.html
=============================================================== This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing) see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit