Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990416092256.007fca30@rongenet.sk.ca>
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 09:22:56 -0600
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk, memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Lloyd Robertson <hawkeye@rongenet.sk.ca>
Subject: Re: The Replicators or the Replicated
In-Reply-To: <c6ff9896.24488b91@aol.com>
At 08:48 AM 16/04/99 EDT, EGraham1@aol.com wrote:
>For memes a psychological perspective is the appropriate level at
>which to define the replicator (i.e. the mind and it's peripherals).
>
>As you point out, it appears to be emotional stimuli that encourage the mind
>to replicate memes. After witnessing a recent conversion from creationism
to
>(albeit still a little sceptical) darwinism I have started to puzzle over
>what changes when someone moves from a state of knowing an idea to believing
>an idea. In both cases the meme is in the mind, but the emotions attached
to
>the meme seem to change. If positive emotions are associated with a
>particular meme it is perhaps more likely to be replicated.
I am not sure whether it is important that the emotion be positive or
negative but definately there must be some emotion for us to come to a
decision to act (and believing in an idea or concept is a kind of action).
People whose neural networks between the amygdala and the neo-cortex are
able to perform all manner of rational and memory functions but are unable
to come to a decision. In short, in the final analysis, we come to a
decision because it feels right.
Of course, those who believe that the self is an illusion do not believe
that their is anything to decide to act, we just do. I will grant that the
quality of some of their posts tend to support this thesis.
Lloyd
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