From: Ross A. Finlayson (raf@tiki-lounge.com)
Date: Mon Nov 08 1999 - 17:52:39 MST
Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
>>patrickw@cs.monash.edu.au (Patrick Wilken):
> > I like Dennett too, but I am not sure I am sold on the ideas of memes.
> > Certainly from the perspective of the conference. How do you think memes
> > would resolve any of the binding problems?
> >
> > I am sort of curious: people talk about memes as this really groovy
> > explanation, but I can't see them as being an improvement over the ideas
> > associated with cognition. How is 'memetics' a more powerful tool for
> > understanding thoughts, emotions, or consciousness, than those developed
> > in cognitive neuroscience (which lack any mention of memes).
>
> You're right of course: memetics doesn't tell you anything about how
> the brain works, any more than genetics tells you how DNA works. It's
> quite the opposite perspective. Evolution of DNA explains many of the
> physical traits we see in various animal species; similarly, memetics
> can explain some of the aspects of human culture that the human mind
> has produced, but it has nothing at all to say about how the mind
> itself works--that's still being shaped by good old DNA. Once a kid
> starts learning, his actions may be shaped by memetic inheritance,
> but the brain itself and how it processes thoughts and emotions are
> already formed at birth. If it weren't, there wouldn't be any medium
> for memes to replicate in.
>
> The only slight influence memetic evolution might have on the working
> of the brain itself is through pseudo-Lamarckian Baldwin effects (i.e.,
> cultural choices as an environmental factor selecting for genetic
> traits).
>
> --
> Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com> <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
> "All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
> are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
> for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC
So should we bring out calipers and reinstate phrenology? Likely not. The
nature vis-a-vis nurture debate is a longstanding one.
Good DNA is doubtless a beneficial factor when it comes to the ability to
learn, but at the same time, problem solving skills are a largely learned
skill.
Brain chemistry is a vast field, and one best left to brain chemists. By the
same token, the large-scale (over)prescription of mood-altering drugs can be a
bad thing.
Memetics, if being the study and analysis of memes and memetic transition, is
tightly bound with sociology and psychology.
Ross Finlayson
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:05:44 MST