Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19980327185746.00927100@voruta.vu.lt>
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 18:57:46 +0200
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Kastytis Beitas <kastytis.beitas@gf.vu.lt>
Subject: technology and naturality
In-Reply-To: <351BC3D3.92817DBE@fcol.com>
At 10:20 1998.03.27 -0500, Bob wrote:
>
>Pardon me, but are folks saying that human technology is any different
(other than
>character and amount) from say, Bower birds making their bowers?
Everything is a
>product of "nature" in my way of thinking. If humankind is "natural" then
the
>products of humankind are natural.
>
>I know that this error (in my opinion) is repeated often, including the
>"exclusion" of humankind from the world of animals but that is a little
primitive
>now a days, isn't it?
>
>The "artifacts" of mankind are the "natural product" of a "natural being."
This
>includes what we call "contamination" and waste, technical products, art,
etc. My
>art work may be someone else's "trash." You probably have several
examples spring
>instantly into mind! All of this is the "natural" product of the human
animal....
>
>Cordially,
>
>Bob
All this is OK.
But according this view only two kinds of things is possible -- natural
things (from galaxy and bacterium to Isaac Asimov, jeeps and Internet) and
supernatural (but what it is?). The term 'natural' loses its meaning --
there are no need for word 'natural' if all things are natural. Word
'natural' carries no information about described thing.
The boundary between natural and some 'non-natural' must exist. The massive
influence of human memes may be criterion for differentiation of things and
phenomena to natural (depending to abiotic and biotic nature with scanty or
null memetic influence) and anthropogenic (depending to human nature with
inevitable memetic component) ones.
(And the spiritual things may be are things based on memes only without
any non-memetic elements... :-) )
Kastytis
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