----- Original Message -----
From: Kenneth Van Oost
To: moq discuss@moq.org
Sent: Monday, October 02, 2000 9:36 PM
Subject: Re: Walking is a social skill/ introduction- post
Hi there,
I am a newbie on this list.
My name is Kenneth Van Oost, born and raised in Belgium.
My main interest is memetics.
In order to get sufficiant data about MoQ- Discuss Jonathan Marder and I got
a
somewhat private conversation about MoQ and memes. He offered me to join
this list and here I am.
I also said to Jonathan that I will repay him in someway for the trouble
where I
got him into.
In order to do so, and also to learn more about you all and the list, I will
re-open
a thread which Jonathan started last year_Walking is a social skill.
( Oct 07 1999)
Jonathan reported about a boy that was found living among monkeys.
The boy could not talk, but what really struck Jonathan was that the boy
could not WALK either.
This was not a physical problem, since he quickly learned to walk after his
rescue. It suggests, Jonathan said, that the SOCIAL level has something to
do with even the very basis " biological " function of walking and the
whole distinction
between social and biological is blurred.
As a memetisist I would answer this one like this,
The boy could not WALK because there was no model to IMITATE.
Did the boy ' WALKED ' like the monkeys did ? If he did he imitated the
model
of walking of the monkeys.
In the strict meaning of the word, there was no social quality model as
such,
but there was a biological model, the boy imitated that.
Could it not be that something must be ' shown ' first to us, so that our
biolo-
gical build up could start themselves up ?
No biological model...no imitation...no social quality pattern !?
A child begins to walk in trying imitating its parents, but biologically
that works
then not very well. By trying more and harder to walk particular biological
dispo-
sitions are strengthen up in such a way that other dispositions (balance
etc)
are strengthen up too and eventually the child will walk. It is like trying
riding
a bicycle.
Margaret Hettinger wrote,
A modern- intellectually- mediated q- social pattern.
A child begins to say ' bye-bye ' when someone says ' bye-bye '.
The reaction is q- social, the word is derived from some intellectual
concept,
not the child 's intellect, but someone 's way back in the culture, lets say
in
a way someone 's biological function of TALKING.
I reply to that...
If this very basic biological function is not ' switched on ' there will be
no
social quality skill of TALKING.
In the case of our Tarzan- boy no skill of WALKING
In any case, anti- social behavior in general could be than explained by any
reason of not- switched- on biological functions...like feeling not secured
by the
love of its parents, not enough money to get a good education, not having a
loving environment to live in...etc.
For any feedback please write back...
Best regards to you all
Kenneth
( I am, because we are)
Kenneth, rather than me corresponding with you privately, why don't you
start something is MoQ-discuss. I'm pretty sure it will lead to animated
discussion. Please fell free to quote anything I have written to you
privately.
I just did,the response above is my thanks to you, I hope
it gives you another insight into what you looking for.
Kenneth
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