Message-Id: <199711031922.NAA00748@dns.night.net>
Subject: Re: Do monkeys have memes
Date: Mon, 3 Nov 97 13:18:47 -0600
From: Mark Mills <mmmills@onramp.net>
To: "memetics list" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Bob Grimes writes:
>As far as monkeys and other species are concerned, I would speculate
>that they have similar mechanisms to memes but on a species specific
>basis, i.e., related to their "language" proficiencies with which they
>are born, etc.
I'm uncomfortable with a 'species specific' definition for memes?
Evolution links species into a understandable whole. I would hope our
use of memes offers the same opportunity.
I take the view that memes are code units stored upon brain tissue
substrates. Monkey brain tissue is only marginally differentiated from
human brain tissue, thus it seems relatively simple to hypothesize the
existence of memetic operations in monkeys (and all other animals with
neural tissue.
Mark
===============================================================
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