Subject: Re: Dawkins' Mutation Test for Replicators
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 11:30:21 -0400
From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
>you left out the bit about the monkeys on nearby islands 'suddenly' adopting
>the same behaviour without any perceived contact with the original group.
It is my considered opinion, and I am not alone, that this whole
monkey-washing-fruit thing is _not_ evidence, and in fact has been shown
to be fraudulent.
It is _not_ evidence of memetic replication in non-humans at all.
I remain unconvinced, not that I'm one of the ones that need convincing,
about memetic activity among non-humans at all. And this unfortunate
'evidence'- since it has been proven false, ain't going to help the cause
of those who want to show such behavior.
Not in the least. In fact, it hurts.
http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/go/btcarrol/skeptic/monkey.html
- Wade
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