From: L' Ermit (lhermit@hotmail.com)
Date: Tue Jan 29 2002 - 02:44:13 MST
[Walter Watts] We could, I suspect, take this neo-Darwinism one step further
and propose that a meme not only does not DEFINE its environment, but
NEITHER is the meme itself DEFINED by its environment.
[Joe Dees] And all we have to do is to look around at ourr artifacts and the
influence our global civilization has had upon planetary ecology to realize
that memes may indeed indirectly affect environment. I think that we will
find ourself increasingly in a world where memes, genes and the environment
co-evolve and mutually feed into and affect each other.
[hr]
[Hermit] Agrees with both Walter (I should have said selected rather than
defined) and Joe (yes, we play a significant role in developing our
environment (although I still argue that memes [b]don't[/b] think, they are
selected or forced) and suggests:
[Hermit] [b]Just as in Modern Evolutionary Synthesis:[/b]
[quote]The major tenets of the evolutionary synthesis, then, were that
populations contain genetic variation that arises by random (ie. not
adaptively directed) mutation and recombination; that populations evolve by
changes in gene frequency brought about by random genetic drift, gene flow,
and especially natural selection; that most adaptive genetic variants have
individually slight phenotypic effects so that phenotypic changes are
gradual (although some alleles with discrete effects may be advantageous, as
in certain color polymorphisms); that diversification comes about by
speciation, which normally entails the gradual evolution of reproductive
isolation among populations; and that these processes, continued for
sufficiently long, give rise to changes of such great magnitude as to
warrant the designation of higher taxonomic levels (genera, families, and so
forth).[/quote] Futuyma, D.J. in Evolutionary Biology, Sinauer Associates,
1986; p.12
[b]We also should have Memetic Synthesis:[/b]
[quote]The major tenets of memetic synthesis, then, are that memeplexii
contain memetic variation that arises by random (ie. not adaptively
directed) mutation and recombination; that meme populations evolve by
changes in meme frequency brought about by random memetic drift, gene flow,
and especially memetic selection; that most adaptive memetic variants have
individually slight effects upon a memeplex, so that memetic changes are
gradual (although some memes with discrete effects may be advantageous, as
in certain social affiliations); that diversification comes about through
UTism, which normally entails the gradual evolution of memetic isolation
among populations; and that these processes, continued for sufficiently
long, give rise to changes of such great magnitude as to warrant the
designation of higher memetic levels*.[/quote] Hermit, "Memetics Again" on
the CoV, after Futuyma, D.J.
[hr]
[Hermit] And wonders, does this garner the approval of you pedants?
Regards
Hermit
*Which has nothing to do with the "Trials of Miss Jean Brodie" or similar
sounding works which might suggest numbered "levels".
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