Measuring Memes

William Chambers (williamc@roman.net)
Tue, 1 Jun 1999 10:27:34 -0500

From: "William Chambers" <williamc@roman.net>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: Measuring Memes
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 10:27:34 -0500

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Hello,

I have just joined the list, My name is Bill Chambers. I am a =
personality psychologist who has studied the measurement of personal =
constructs over the past 25 years. I have developed repertory grid =
measures of logical consistency, integrative complexity, looseness =
versus tightness, and formal causation. All of these methods are =
relevant to the evolution of constructs/ideas. A friend recently =
suggested that I have much in common with the folks working with memes =
and that my methods may be of use in the measurement of memes.

I do not know much about memes and would appreciate learning about them =
as quickly and efficiently as possible. I have a few questions:

1. Has the definition of memes got anything to do with the notion of =
entailment? Does a meme imply its subsets/subordinates? What is the =
definition of memes?

2. Has anyone discussed the difference between Aristotle's notions of =
formal versus efficient cause in the context of memes?

3. Are all memes self replicating?

4. Has the distinction between internal logical consistency and truth =
been discussed in the meme literature?

5. Is there interest in the development of quantitative measures of =
memes?

Thanks,

William (Bill) Chambers, PhD

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Hello,
 
I have just joined the list, My name is Bill = Chambers.  I=20 am a personality psychologist who has studied the measurement of = personal=20 constructs over the past 25 years.  I have developed repertory grid = measures of logical consistency, integrative complexity, looseness = versus=20 tightness, and formal causation.  All of these methods are relevant = to the=20 evolution of constructs/ideas.  A friend recently suggested that I = have=20 much in common with the folks working with memes and that my methods may = be of=20 use in the measurement of memes.
 
I do not know much about memes and would appreciate = learning=20 about them as quickly and efficiently as possible. I have a few=20 questions:
 
1.  Has the definition of memes got anything to = do with=20 the notion of entailment?  Does a meme imply its = subsets/subordinates? What=20 is the definition of memes?
 
2. Has anyone discussed the difference between = Aristotle's=20 notions of formal versus efficient cause in the context of = memes?
 
3.  Are all memes self = replicating?
 
4. Has the distinction between internal logical = consistency=20 and truth been discussed in the meme literature?
 
5. Is there interest in the development of = quantitative=20 measures of memes?
 
Thanks,
 
William (Bill) Chambers, = PhD
------=_NextPart_000_0017_01BEAC19.5D8AF420-- =============================================================== 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://cfpm.org/jom-emit