JAHAYES@MIAMIU.BITNET (Josh Hayes) (12/01/90)
We are drifting closer to an interesting subject probably not appropriate for sci.skeptic, so I suggest followups to sci.bio. The "leap forward" that communication allows is the creation of shared concepts or ideas. Richard Dawkins and others have coined the term 'meme' for a single coherent idea, intended to be analogous to 'gene'. It seems obvious that meme flow and evolution within the, um, "memome" (as "genome") could be much more rapid than strictly genetic evolution. It is perhaps not surprising that human evolution is so damn fast, because so much of human evolution is social, not genetic....it's sort of an arena that other organisms on this planet have not exploited, abstraction of ideas, at least, as far as we know.... -------- Josh Hayes, Zoology Department, Miami University, Oxford OH 45056 voice: 513-529-1679 fax: 513-529-6900 jahayes@miamiu.bitnet, or jahayes@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu "I am the Supreme Being, you know; I'm not completely dim."