Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 16:54:14 +0200
From: "Gatherer, D. (Derek)" <D.Gatherer@organon.nhe.akzonobel.nl>
Subject: RE: Inernal meme?
To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Nick:
I'm not convinced that neurological research will *ever* be
able to identify a meme.
Derek:
Neither am I. However, I am open to the possibility, provided it can be
rigorously demonstrated. The reason I started talking about the amygdala
work was to demonstrate that stereotypical neural patterns alone are not
sufficient evidence that internal memes exist.
Nick:
i.e. when you look at the pack of neurons in the amygdala
(for example) can you with any confidence determine which
structures have been shaped by classical conditioning and
which shaped by social transmission and imitation?
Derek:
Absolutely not. The response to threat words is probably, as you say,
classical conditioning.
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