>And X is true until something better comes along.
>
>Sounds fickle? Sure, but we have our last fifty years of culture
>recorded and filmed and video taped-- it's not going away-- it's not
>fading from memory or being mythified. It *is* making all of us very
>sarcastic and very fluent in the fine art of irony.
This is encouraging. Are we making progress toward a concensus
on the nature of truth? (For awhile there I thought the Church
was about to experience its first schism.)
>> >Many signals have an unconscious source. I don't think a drill bit at
>> >the bottom of the ocean thinks ...
>
>I am very confused about this. How does a drill bit think? This is not a
>meme or even information, it's a drill bit. Why are you treating it
>differently?
Nobody is claiming a drill bit thinks. I think KMO was saying that
the drill bit has some instruments on board that send information
to the surface about what lies below the bottom of ocean.
>> Granted. So Dtretske's theory doesn't differentiate between passive
>> phenomena and purposeful communications? I guess that makes sense,
>> both are signals from the environment and the fact that the latter
>> may be more complex doesn't seem to make a difference.
>
>Of course it does.
Both kinds of signals carry information and have meaning. Consider
that a great deal can be (and has been) learned by pointing
telescopes at the sky, though we have seen no sign of intelligent
life out there.
>I don't get this....(?) How can a meme have a life cycle?
>
>It isn't a meme *unless* it is transmitted.
Wouldn't you say that you have genes even though (to my knowledge)
none have been transmitted? I think the potential for transmission
is more important when speaking of genes and memes.
>The meme has developed and evolved to a point where we accept it without
>question. We are totally prepared for the "evil twin" scenario.
That's fascinating. When I posted the example I didn't take it that
far but it makes a lot of sense.
-- David McFadzean david@ideosphere.com Memetic Engineer http://www.ideosphere.com/~david/ Ideosphere Inc. http://www.ideosphere.com