From: "James McComb" <jamesmccomb@hotmail.com>
To: "Memetics Discussion List" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: i-memes and m-memes
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 07:42:46 +1000
____________i-memes and m-memes
I have seen constant references in this discussion list to L-memes and
G-memes. These coinages are rather cryptic and unintuitive. I am sure that
new subscribers to this list would have a hard time working out that L
stands for 'Lynch' and G stands for 'Gatherer'.
I have been looking for a better pair of terms to replace L-meme and G-meme.
It occurs to me that the distinction drawn by contrasting L-memes with
G-memes is the distinction between Cloak's i-culture and m-culture. Perhaps
you might like to try using the terms i-meme and m-meme? Here are my
attempted definitions, if you would like to give them a try:
i-meme: a unit of memetic information residing in a brain. (By analogy with
Cloak's i-culture.)
m-meme: the same unit of memetic information encoded as a behaviour or
cultural artefact. (By analogy with Cloak's m-culture.)
Alternatively, you might view memes as having an i-form and an m-form.
Using these terms, you could still draw out lineages such as i-m-m-i just as
you draw out lineages with L-G-G-L now.
Hope this helps!
James McComb - jamesmccomb@hotmail.com
Fidelity! Fecundity! Longevity!
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