From: BMSDGATH <BMSDGATH@livjm.ac.uk>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: experiment
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1998 09:09:27 -0500 (EST)
On Fri, 6 Nov 98 15:25:52 -0500 "Wade T.Smith"
<wade_smith@harvard.edu> wrote:
> Is there a source (besides the magazine) you could point me to at which I
> can find out what this is all about- it may be classic to you, but it's a
> prototype to me....
There's a review of the original paper and some of the follow-up work
in American Zoologist 1986, vol. 26 pp. 845-855. It's a bit difficult
to precis in a post, but basically it shows that some aspects of
parents' cultural phenotype are more reliably reproduced in their
offspring than others. For instance Judaism and Catholicism are highly
correlated between mothers and progeny, but not fathers. By contrast,
politics is mostly a paternal correlation, as are eating a hearty
breakfast and enjoying parties. Cultural traits which are apparently
not correlated with either parent, and thus are 'non-transmitted'
include taste in movies, drinking milk as an adult, belief in UFOs and
jogging.
Derek
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