Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 11:29:51 -0400
From: "Robert G. Grimes" <grimes@fcol.com>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: 'Experience' as 'substrate'
Chris,
I believe that we have utilized this analogy of memes and memetic
interaction previously (I know that I have - see the current issue of
ETC). Quite a few folks have expressed the opinion that some type of
"reward" system was involved with mimetic usage. Some have postulated
that the "shape" (metaphorically speaking) of the meme in the cognitive
milieu resulted in favorable chemistry such as the production of
neurotransmitters, etc. Thus, thinking about and "passing" the meme would
restimulate the biochemical reward, both in the sender and the receiver.
Evolution would always occur because of the collective effects of the
individual cognitive milieus which are always unique and, as such, would
result in different associative values (i.e., again, metaphorically,
"shapes") which would result in the meme being modified. Since the meme
only actually exists in the cognitive milieu it would always be unique but
some memetic structures are so simple that little "effective" variation
would occur in most people when a new memetic "seed" is received and
assumes its position in the cognitive environment ("close enough for
government work").
Henson, whose paper on the Jones experiment (The Wave) with the children
is referenced in a previous message from Aaron Lynch, is also a great
believer in this type of stimulus or reward activity. Aaron gave this
reference to Keith's article:
> http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/bigkarma/memes/infoviru.html
Keith's papers are very interesting and informative and another can be
found at:
http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Cultural/Memetics/metamem.txt
You are doing a great job at a great pace on memetic study!
Cordially,
Bob
christopher_l._turner@hud.gov wrote:
> I wonder if we might usefully describe a meme as a self-replicating
> 'pattern of experience'. A certain pattern of sensory experience may
> carry a sensual 'reward' such that the experiencing organism is
> motivated to behave in such a way as to attempt to _reproduce_ that
> sensory reward. Variation occurs when such behavior patterns have
> 'unintended' experiential consequences, which must then be 'adjusted
> for' by further behavior modifications by the affected nervous system.
> Thus 'experience', as a _self-designing_ cybernetic operation of the
> (in our case 'human') nervous system, becomes the 'substrate' in which
> 'memes', in conjunction with their generative behavior patterns and
> the nervous systems which execute them, are 'evolved'.
>
> What do you think?
> Chris Turner 4-27-98 (CR)
>
> ===============================================================
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-- Bob Grimeshttp://members.aol.com/bob5266/ http://www.hotwired.com/members/profile/bobinjax/ http://www.phonefree.com/Scripts/cgiParse.exe?sID=28788 Jacksonville, Florida Bob5266@aol.com robert.grimes@mailexcite.com
Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore....."
=============================================================== 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