> Examining animal behavior in light of memetics doesn't seem to shed much
> illumination on those behaviors. I'm making a claim about what is
> interesting, and such claims are obviously subjective. You're welcome to
> dissagree, but I would maintain that replicating patterns of non-genetic
> information get interesting when they have symbolic content.
I agree. Largely because information doesn't have to be interpreted
until it has a symbolic content. I find Memetics to be a fascinating
tool for getting a grip on how we control ourselves and each other
through our fantasies of justice, Good and Evil, and morality.
I personally find no cross over to any other animals besides us.
I've never had to deal with an animals memes- they don't impact on my
life, they don't influence my concept of self, they don't affect my
interpretation of the universe.
I think memes are performative ideas.
One of the things you need to produce performative ideas is a complex
language.
Once a dog starts to develop a fetch ethic, or a fetch religion, or a
"dog"ma :) that excludes other dogs because they aren't fetching the
traditional way-- that's when it starts getting interesting and enters
the feild of memetics
(I'm waiting for my neighbor's cat to start a feline version of the
Spanish Inquisition-- That would be interesting!!)
-- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Pantheists http://www.lucifer.com/~kenpan Virus Theatre http://www.lucifer.com/virus/theatre ---------------------------------------------------------------------