From: "Paul Marsden" <paulmarsden@msn.com>
To: "memetics" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: RE Parody in Science
Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 17:55:14 +0200
Aaron
>"The [baby dolls for girls] meme may also have emotional effects lasting
>long after childhood, INCREASING WOMEN'S DESIRE TO HAVE REAL BABIES. During
>girlhood, the baby doll provides a source of comfort and make-believe
>attachment. As the girl grows up, she learns that she is too old to play
>with dolls anymore. But the desire for comfort and attachment remains and
>TRANSLATES into desire for a real baby. Seeing other women enjoy comfort
and attachment from a real baby heightens the desire still further, to a
point sometimes called "baby lust" in contemporary America.
>I describe the baby dolls for girls meme as *a* contributing causal factor
>to women's desire's to have children. Nowhere do I make the statement you
>attribute to me that "This is what lies behind the phenomenon of 'baby
>lust'."
Your argument is as follows
A causes B, which is amplified by C resulting in D.
Where
A is the baby doll meme
B is desire for children
C is exposure to women enjoying comfort and attachment caused by having a
baby.
D is baby lust
Whatever way you look at it, A according to your argument lies behind D,
which is what I said.
We could do this with all the points made in the review of your book - but I
think people would find it all very tedious. Your book can be bought from
www.amazon.com and the review can be read at
http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/JASSS/2/2/review4.html and in addition your
reply will soon be published in the Journal. Lets leave the verdict to the
readers, I am certainly not the person to objectively defend my own review
of your book. I would suggest that mutatis mutandis, the same may apply to
you.
Is it not time to move on from navel gazing involved when there really is no
fact of the matter here. You have your interpretation of your book, I was
asked to give mine. Let's now work together and move on to developing
substantial arguments and producing convincing evidence for memetics.
Paul Marsden
Graduate Research Centre in the Social Sciences
University of Sussex
P.Marsden@sussex.ac.uk
Paul.Marsden@newscientist.net
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/hbpe2/darwinia.htm
ICQ 35642304
Tel (44) (0) 958 733 414
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