On Apr 10, 2013, at 8:00 AM, John F Sowa wrote: (01)
> 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.
>
> There is nothing wrong with discussing such issues, but this topic
> raises more questions than it can answer:
>
> 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. (02)
Dawkins notes this and explains why it is not important in the originating
work, "the selfish gene". (03)
>
> 2. The similarities between biological evolution and sociological
> evolution are interesting, but based on fundamentally different
> mechanisms.
>
> 3. As a result of points #1 and #2, the analogy that supports the
> metaphor of memes is incomplete and unreliable.
>
> 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. (04)
Memes may be for example musical phrases or architectural patterns. (05)
> 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. (06)
With Dawkins, Dennett, Blackmore, Gottsch, Balkin and Salingaros, that would be
one hell of a bull session. (07)
Pat (08)
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