Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 19:48:15 -0800
From: ca314159 <ca314159@bestweb.net>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: memes and dancing
Joshua Sutubra wrote:
>
> Is the urge to dance and dancing itself the result of
> meme(s)?
>
> People who dance come from all walks of life,
> similarly people who don't dance. The initial dancing
> meme would likely come from the first time a person
> sees dancer(s). I think the URGE to dance comes from
> the first dancing meme transmitted but that for the
> person to actually take up dancing or learn dance
> steps, an entire series or group of memes are
> concerned. Also, many of these memes would be
> transmitted through body language rather than in
> written or vocal form.
>
> For the record, I don't dance but have have the urge
> to dance on occasion.
>
Every action we take seems to be a form of communications
whether to the self, others or an imaginary audience.
In music for instance, solo, concerto and symphony
distinguish individual, societal and cultural expressions.
As well there are levels of proficiency in terms
of survival (basic skills), inquiry (combinatorical skills),
and sophistication (communciative skills); to borrow
these terms from Douglas Adams.
If we plot a space for you to be in, with the former on
the x-axis and the later on the y-axis, where would you
place yourself ? Loner, soloist in a group, group ?
What level of proficiency, basic, intermediate, flexible ?
Sophistication ______|___________|_________
Inquiry ______|___________|_________
Survival ______|___________|_________
Solo Concerto Symphony
This of course is not a complete map of where someone
can be.
For instance, if many people play solo to many imaginary
audiences then the result is cachophony.
My impression is that memes help to map where you
are at a particular moment, like land marks, but
do not necessarily define where you "should be".
If a meme is truly general, it will always be a coordinate
on your map where-ever you are ? The memes form a set of
fundamental metaphors ?
--http://www.bestweb.net/~ca314159/
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