Re: RE[2]: virus: Hosts

zaimoni@ksu.edu
Mon, 14 Oct 1996 23:23:24 -0500 (CDT)


On Sat, 12 Oct 1996, David Leeper wrote:

> > The two previously posted responses to this question (including the
> >one quoted above) seem to suggest that a genetic basis operates in meme
> >selection. Do we have any hard evidence to support this, as opposed to
> >cultural- or experiential-based selection?

[CLIP]

> The reverse idea, that memes effect genes, is called the Baldwin Effect. This idea is a little
> more radical. In fact, it's only resently resurfaced after decades of neglect because some
> experiments in Artifical Life seem to indicate that the Baldwin Effect actually exists and can
> be measured.

The Baldwin effect should occur in physical reality. It's simply a
selective process based on social/memetic criteria instead of physical
criteria. I have a very hard time believing that a social/memetic
criterion cannot show up in the transmission ratios, although it should
take a less extreme example than WWII to demonstrate.

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/ Towards the conversion of data into information....
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/ Kenneth Boyd
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