> At 09:00 AM 28/02/97 -0500, Alex Williams wrote:
>
> >My version of meme X and yours are probably /significantly different/,
> >even in the most ideal of interpretive stances that I can hold. In
>
> OK, I'll try another tact. What if the versions are not /significantly/
> different?
>
> >transmission, it would have been moved, but nothing here has moved,
> >you have merely used a mostly shared protocol to cause me to
> >reconstruct a meme fairly like yours.
>
> Remember we are talking about information here. Nothing has to move
> in order to transmit it.
But that is exactly what is in contention!
We Zanderists claim that 'transmit' is an inaccurate and misleading term
to use with regard to information. While *signals* can be transmitted
(sent from one place to another), *meaning* cannot. Meaning can only be
reconstructed from signals, and is not contained within them. When
understanding is close to perfect, the difference is invisible; when
communications problems arise, recognizing the difference is crucial.
Eva