From: Robin Faichney <robin@faichney.demon.co.uk>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: memes and dancing
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 18:11:20 +0000
Message-Id: <99122118161700.01441@faichney>
On Tue, 21 Dec 1999, Wade T.Smith wrote:
>>Is the urge to dance and dancing itself the result of
>>meme(s)?
>
>I've always viewed, and seen some evidence, that dancing and music are a=
=20
>form of language, perhaps prototypical, so if you lump memes in with=20
>language, as is the wont of a few, well, maybe- but- look at your=20
>question, please....
>
>You have used 'urge' and 'result'. Not exactly a scientific question,=20
>and, in the absence of clear mechanisms, almost useless.
>
>Infants will sway to a beat. Looks more like a developmental and genetic=
=20
>structure to this white boy.
You think that's an alternative to memetics?
Think of it this way, Wade: genetics is hardware, memetics is software. =
Some
functions are hardwired: they require no software. But all software-medi=
ated
functions also require hardware. And both hardware and software develop.=
So,
memetic (broadly) implies both genetic and developmental.
If you see memetic explanations as alternatives to genetic ones (wrongly,=
in my
view), then that might explain many of the puzzling things I've seen you =
say.
-- Robin Faichney=============================================================== 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