Message-Id: <v03102804b120c673633e@[194.109.13.153]>
In-Reply-To: <34F519BE.394F@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 21:32:04 +0100
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Ton Maas <tonmaas@xs4all.nl>
Subject: Re: Memetic Experience | And meme's anabiosis
>For most misunderstandings, successful memes carry on. When memes come
>up against overwhelming misunderstanding, they cease to exist. The
>balance between tolerable and terminal misunderstanding must be a
>complicated thing to figure out...so many variables, so little time.
Well, for memes - contrary to genes - this is a relative issue. They don't
necessarily cease to exist but can remain "dormant" almost eternally - in
case some future archeologist deciphers them and shares them once again
with other human beings. In this respect memes are more "independent" from
their physical carrier than genes, so discussing them in terms of
"selection" and "survival" is quite tentative.
Ton
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