Message-Id: <199809141040.GAA30871@dewdrop2.mindspring.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 06:45:46 -0500
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: bbenzon@mindspring.com (Bill Benzon)
Subject: Re: On Gatherer's behaviourist stance
At 9:45 AM 9/14/98 +0200, Mario Vaneechoutte wrote:
>>
>> The child is having thoughs and images, but they aren't memes. They're just
>>thoughts and
>> images.
>
>Well, it is a matter of definition. Some, like Dawkins, would call these memes
>and actually it is
>one of the earliest definitions. The community of memeticists does not seem to
>agree about what
>should be called a meme.
But, can't one say that a meme is to culture as the gene is to biology and
then look for it? If that's what you do, then it is my belief that you
aren't going to find memes inside people's brains. It's one thing to define
memes by saying that "those things there" are memes. It's a bit different
to define memes by asserting that they must play a certain role in an
evolutionary story.
William L. Benzon 201.217.1010
708 Jersey Ave. Apt. 2A bbenzon@mindspring.com
Jersey City, NJ 07302 USA http://www.newsavanna.com/wlb/
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