From: "Aaron Agassi" <agassi@erols.com>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>, <Critical-Cafe@mjmail.eeng.dcu.ie>
Subject: The misapplications of Memetics
Date: Thu, 1 Jul 1999 18:54:37 -0400
A Memetic approach such as Chris Lofting's can and does easily reduce itself
into silliness with the notion that all ideas are equivalent, even mistaken
ones, as long as it satisfies some particular personal need or impulse at
the moment.
Chris Lofting takes an Anti-Rationalist view that Logic is an evolutionary
byproduct actually belonging to Neurology. He then advances that Logic is
simply an impulse need no more intrinsically valid than any other! This
confuses Psychology with Ontology. The impulses on whatever neural pathways
that lead to reality testing may not be more valid, as such, than any other
itch to scratch. But that is an entirely different question than the logical
validity or correspondence to reality of any given assertion.
Logic is a test for all propositions. But a test for Logic itself comes
rarely. A Verificationist with any qualms from this, could not continue
until Logic itself where validated. But a Popperian can accept Logic in the
mean time. After all, has Chris Lofting got anything better? None of his
Neuro-logic does the job that he insists that we cannot. He speaks of
another approach, but has yet to put one forth, for doing science.
How, for example, how will Neurology advance the Spectroscopy of
Astro-Physics, unless it can discover some particular mistaken human
assumption or relationship presumption, and then move to correct it? But
that would be Epistemology opening, by implication, Ontological conjecture.
And Chris Lofting is not going see the multiple values he so adores, outside
of any field that is not reducible to Quantum Mechanics. And Quantum
Indeterminacy bears no relation to human ambivalence. It remains that
Columbus discovered the New World Geographically, not Spiritually. No, alas,
he did not seek out the New World within. Colonial American history might
have gotten a kinder start had all his actions been guided by his better
angels. Still, that's apples and oranges.
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