[MD] Dawkins quotes RMP on religion.

[ian glendinning]

Spot on Arlo,

It would be reductionist to expect to find a meme under a microscope.

Ian

On 3/25/08, Arlo Bensinger <ajb102 at psu.edu> wrote:
> [Platt quoting Wolfe]
> A neurophysiologist can use the most powerful and sophisticated brain
> imagining now available - and still not find a meme.
>
> [Arlo]
> Why would anyone expect to find a social level pattern on the
> biological level? Seems to me this quote represents the extreme SOM
> Pirsig rejected, namely if you can't see it under a microscope it's
> just in your head and doesn't exist.
>
> I'm not a Dawkins expert, I've never read any of his books, but it
> seems he gives plenty examples of memes on the Wikipedia page,
> chucked sets of words conveying specific and metaphorical meaning. We
> can (and some socio-linguists have done) trace the spread of a phrase
> from a place of origin to its becoming a common phrase in the
> standard lexicon. As Dawkins proposes that language carries with it
> not only specific "referent" but also metaphoric meaning,
> meaning-by-omission, and normative reinforcement, his idea that the
> social level grows and ages in a way analogous to the biological
> level has merit.
>
> Pirsig himself uses the same analogy when he refers to "the cultural
> immune system". You won't find this under a microscope either, Platt.
> So I guess that means you're rejecting Pirsig as delusional now as well?
>
>
>
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