Re: virus: Will the real meme please stand up.

tom.holz (tom.holz@pobox.com)
Tue, 05 Aug 1997 18:18:42 -0400


>Good start. But what exactly is this *unit*? With a gene, this
>was easy, because a gene is a gene. A part of a gene is not a gene,
>but a part of a meme can be. Also, a collection of genes is not a gene,
>(I think. I may be wrong - I'm not a biologist) but a collection
>of memes can be a meme (or meme complex, but I see the two used
>interchangeably.)

Having finished The Selfish Gene several weeks ago, My <genes> are fuzzier.
If you mean genes to be atomic (indivisible, with freedom and etc.)
self-replicators, then a single strand of DNA does not neccesarily[2]
correlate to X genes. Does it? both genes and memes are large messy
bundles which work together to get themselves replicated [2].

[1] A currently unkown member of my household has re-located my dictionary,
and I would rather spend time typing than searching for it. But would
someone spell neccesilarity correctly for me? (Why didn't I think of
looking at how other people spelled it over the past months/years
[non-rhetorical])

[2]Apologies for the low-quality content, but (i) I'm working 9 hours a day
(how does eveyone else do it?) and, (ii) <memetics> and <rational
discource> are losing out. Though when I get back to school, Things may or
may not change.

sadly,
tom.

==| Top 100 things Dr. Sam Beckett least wants to hear at the other end of
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