From: "Aaron Agassi" <agassi@erols.com>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: i-memes and m-memes
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 16:47:22 -0400
In-Reply-To: <37C99980.5AA8A214@pacbell.net>
This convinces me that rather than recognize anything at all what so ever as
non-memetic, we may be better off speaking of it's replicative failure.
> -----Original Message-----
> From: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk [mailto:fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk]On Behalf
> Of Bill Spight
> Sent: Sunday, August 29, 1999 4:35 PM
> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: i-memes and m-memes
>
>
> Dear Lawrence,
>
> > I would say that ideas, behaviors and artifacts CAN be memes IF
> they have
> > the architecture and functions needed to 'displace' competing memes, and
> > if they are provided with the requisite distribution channels. This
> > provides that many ideas, behaviors and artifacts are not memes, because
> > they lack the above characteristics.
>
> I agree with your earlier statements about not treating memes
> like genes; the differences are too great. However, I think that
> here there is a relevant analogy with genes.
>
> A mutant gene which kills or sterilizes lacks the architecture
> and function for replication. However, it is still useful to
> consider it a gene.
>
> Admittedly, this is a tricky question. In "The Evolution of
> Useful Things" Henry Petroski points out that the function of
> many surviving craftsman's tools is unknown, because the
> craftsmen who made them for their own use never revealed the
> secret of how they were used. Do we consider those tools and how
> they were used memes or not? The information was transmissible
> (heritable), but was never transmitted.
>
> I gather that you would not consider them memes. But do you go
> further? If they were transmitted, but in a way that would give
> them little chance to displace competing memes, would you
> consider them memes or not? For instance, a parent might tell
> their child the secret, but the child chooses another line of
> work. Meme or not?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill
>
> ===============================================================
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===============================================================
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://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit