memes (was Re: ::scr clue)

[Alex Robinson]

> i dont know how deeply embedded an idea has to be to become a meme. one
> could argue that the brain's strategies for face recognition are a very
> powerful, leaky meme, but is that too complex an object?


Face recognition isn't a meme at all. The idea of face recognition is.

Talking to people about it only alerts them to the existence of a 
hard-wired pattern recognition 'solution' employed by the brain. It does 
not enable people whose face-recognising abilities are impaired or 
non-existent to suddenly develop those abilities. It does enable clever 
people to think about ways of building devices that may exhibit similar 
strategies.

On the other hand, a wheel is a meme in its own right.