Subject: Re: memes and dancing
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 08:48:52 -0500
From: "Wade T.Smith" <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
On 12/21/99 13:11, Robin Faichney said this-
>And both hardware and software develop. So,
>memetic (broadly) implies both genetic and developmental.
I completely agree- where I am having no sparing of moments of confusion
is where we, I, or you draw the line or mark the boundaries between
_developmental_ which includes the genetic, and _cultural_ which includes
the memetic. I view genetics and development as partners- and memetics
and culture as partners. Yes, they get all mixed up, but, yes, I
personally think there is a place to separate them, and I personally
think memetics needs to be this place, but, so far, the place is foggy
and misty and no-one wants to really survey it (besides the hard
cognitive folks) to make a working map.
>If you see memetic explanations as alternatives to genetic ones
_I'm_ not the one seeing these things- to the contrary- I see _genetic_
explanations for much of what a lot of people are calling 'memetics'.
And I'm using Occam sparingly.
And language, and music, and dancing are among those.
And, still, I'm really, really, in need of a dire reason to see memetics
as necessary, but, I'm working on it.
- Wade
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