From: <MemeLab@aol.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 1999 18:07:42 EDT
Subject: Re: Encoding and Decoding
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
In a message dated 9/1/99 9:58:17 AM Central Daylight Time,
dfletter@sirius.com writes:
> Yes, I agree. If you are going to frame the discussion so as to define the
> information as an entity within the brain then it is logically necessary
to
> have a decode since all structures within a brain must be interpreted by
> that organism to become behavior of any type. The instructions or
> propensity for the behavior are clearly different from the behavior and
> ipso facto must be interpreted, or decoded if you will, to become
behavior.
> If the organism were to perish all i-memes hosted by that organism perish
> as well and the behavior can no longer be expressed by the organism.
I sometimes think that this talk about encoding and decoding reveals a little
too much reliance on "The Brain is a Computer" metaphor. "Encoding" and
"decoding" implies that there IS a code, much in the way that computers have
codes. I don't know that that is the case. I think "interpretation" and
"translation" are better words to use, because those relate more to natural
language and thought which I think would be more of the medium of memes.
-Jake
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