Date: Sun, 27 Jul 1997 03:26:22 +0300 (EET DST)
From: Martti Nyman <manyman@ling.helsinki.fi>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Inherited memes = inherited predispositions?
In-Reply-To: <199707260805.JAA21518@alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk>
Mark Mills (by way of conclusion):
> With this background, I'll propose a list of inherited memes. The first
> to develop is the motor skill meme. The next is the 'focus' meme. With
> motor skill and focus, the 'mimic' meme to emerges. The three then
> provide a foundation for the 'naming' meme. The naming meme
> differentiates into 'identification' meme and 'calling' meme. The last
> fundamental inherited meme is the 'conditional' meme.
Mark, thanks for the interesting account. Your conclusion prompts
me to wonder, whether there is, after all, any substantive difference
between your 'inherited memes' and (what is often called) inherited
predispositions.
For instance, human beings are born with an innate predisposition
to develop the kind of vocal communication that involves speech
sounds. This is why infants start to mimic only speech sounds, not
other reproductible sounds in their environments (e.g., dog's barking).
I surmise you'd describe phenomena like this in terms of activation
of an inherited meme. If this is the case, one might wonder why you need
another term. Do you feel a specific gap in the theory is filled
by the term 'inherited meme' -- a gap that isn't possibly covered by
'inherited predisposition'?
Like Scott said, anything claimed to be an improvement on the first,
Dawkins's, proposal needs to be justified ...
Martti
P.S.: Mark, thank you very much for your strenuous and very
informative replies to my earlier postings. I'm sorry I haven't
had the time, yet, to give them due attention.
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