>PS why the plug for "Darwinism" in the same sentence as memetics and
>rational...I would say that it doesn't belong there and further that you
>are being dogmatic and most likely fearing for your "standing" amongst
>your academic peers ("Oh my god, what would my peers say if I dissed
>their god Darwin...whine, whine?"). If you are going to make rash
>comparisons (between "rational" and "Darwinism"...especially if you are
>going to put your "seal of 'memetic' approval" on it...I suggest you be
>willing to give some intelligent reasoning to back your statement.
[I found the rest of your post very interesting and I think your model
has some merit. If you are interested, you might look into Marshall
McLuhan's ideas about visual (literate) space and acoustic (tribal) space.
There are a number of titles availiable through amazon if search for
him as an author.]
I plug "Darwinism" becuase it is the name commonly given to the theory
of evolution by natural selection which he championed. Among the people
who like to be technical the current set of theories is usually refered to
as [the] neo-Darwinian [synthesis], taking into account the addition of genes
and molecular biology which were unknown during Darwin's time.
I believe that "Darwinism" is a good meme, an idea which people will
find useful and one which a better understanding of in our cultures
would create a world that I would like to live in. If my peers held
evolution to be a heresy I would still believe it...in fact I believe it
despite the fact that in my own culture Darwinism is considered a
hersey of sorts...if you consider the whole population.
Reed
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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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