Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 17:22:25 +0000
Subject: Re: RE: On 'information transmission'
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: I.Price@shu.ac.uk (Ilfryn PRICE)
Richard Brodie returns with
>Mark Mills wrote:
>
>>Thus, we have situations like that mentioned by Paul. Paul is frustrated
>>by the impossibility of 'transmitting information.' Actually, he is
>>hoping Aaron can 'recreate' his perspective, but we like 'transmission'
>>because it sounds like the receiver has no choice in the matter. It is
>>more clear cut.
>
>This is SUCH a key point.
>
>I'm fine with using the word "transmit" to include the
>Blackmore/Marsden/Gatherer school of behavioral imitation, to include
>passing down of oral traditions, and to include all methods that memes use
>to get themselves replicated from one mind to another. But to the meme, so
>long as it gets itself replicated, transmitted, or recreated in another
>mind, it has accomplished its task. That there may be several different
>mechanisms for accomplishing this purpose matters not -- to the meme.
I am with you on that point Richard. The Aaron Derek debate stikes me as a
great example of two memesets resisting incursion of their respective
territories by the other, hence the re-creation difficulties Mark refered
to.
>
>
>An interesting footnote: at least one modern "designer mind virus" group
>--
>Landmark Education, successor to est -- actually uses the term "recreate"
>when referring to trainers successfully modeling the original training
>given
>by Werner Erhard. So replication with fidelity is an OVERT strategy-meme
>in
>the overall cultural organism! The other necessary ingredient, evangelism,
>is literally written on the walls: a huge Mission Statement begins,
Richard, do you happen to know whether Landmark yet see themselves as a
designer mind virus group. I agree with you they are. For the record
Shifting the Patterns had one of its roots in an attempt to make sense of
Landmark derived methods and reconciole them with others, including clasic
NLP and Senge's and Pascal's work. My co-author was someone who had
deliberately chosen to add mutation to his replication of the Landmark
approach.
______________________________________________________________
If Price
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Sheffield Hallam University
Unit 7, Science Park, Sheffield S1 1WB
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