>BUT I know about Coke, I can sing at least three Coke advertising tunes..
I think it's not unreasonable to suggest that, at the most basic level,
one of the essential elements in picking up tunes is mimicry -- in
this case, the tendency to sing along with "catchy" ones. Ditto for
other instances of memetic transmission. "Catchy" behaviours
just about covers what memetics is about, doesn't it? And
mimicry/modelling/whatever you want to call it is, on some accounts
at least, empathy in action. To be emotionally in accord is a more
common use of the word, but from this point of view is not required.
(Developmentally, mimicry would come first, and emotional
resonance later, building on it.)
EDITOR = "Nancy Eisenberg and Janet Strayer",
TITLE = "Empathy and its Development",
PUBLISHER = "Cambridge University Press",
ADDRESS = "Cambridge",
YEAR = 1990
Robin