Interesting. What is the social model of the species of Monkey. Might
height be a key to social status within the groups. ie The strongest
is, often, the tallest. By standing and walking at full height the
child might then be seen to be challenging the social hierarchy of the
group without the physical mass to actually "win" any contest. One
could easily envisage a situation where the behavior of standing at
full height might be conditioned out...
Just a thought...
regards,
Ian
On Thu, 5 Oct 2000 20:43:43 +0200, you wrote:
>
>----- 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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>
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