On 4/9/2013 6:28 PM, John Bottoms wrote:
> His argument starts by asking if words are things. Then he argues that
> if words are things then we should consider memes as things also. He
> goes on to illustrate that memes follow the basic three principles of
> Darwinism. (01)
There is nothing wrong with discussing such issues, but this topic
raises more questions than it can answer: (02)
1. The metaphor underlying the notion of 'meme' is based on an analogy
to genes. But memes are transmitted by mechanisms that have no
similarity whatsoever to the mechanisms for transmitting genes. (03)
2. The similarities between biological evolution and sociological
evolution are interesting, but based on fundamentally different
mechanisms. (04)
3. As a result of points #1 and #2, the analogy that supports the
metaphor of memes is incomplete and unreliable. (05)
4. The most notable characteristic of memes is their association
with some word or phrase. Lexicography is a more appropriate
science for studying the evolution of memes than biology. (06)
Conclusion: The similarity in the effects of genes and memes is a good
topic for a bull session after a beer party in a college dorm. (07)
John (08)
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