Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 12:21:19 +0200
From: "Gatherer, D. (Derek)" <D.Gatherer@organon.nhe.akzonobel.nl>
Subject: RE: Dawkins' Mutation Test for Replicators
To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Robin:
Thanks for taking the trouble, Derek. But there remains an interesting
technical issue here: if the monkeys learned the behaviour from the
keeper, then they are in some sense capable of imitation.
Derek:
No, they're not imitating the keeper. It's a Skinnerian reinforcement
process.
Robin:
OK, so what
they're imitating is not a conspecific, and some persistence on the
keeper's part was probably required, but how exactly do we distinguish
that scenario from meme transmission? Or do we?
Derek:
Some don't eg. most of the early memeticists like Cavalli-Sforza admit that
they don't really care how behaviours/cultural traits are replicated. But
Sue has her reasons, as listed in her book and JoM article.
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