Re: coercion
Jay Lemke (JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU)
Mon, 22 Apr 96 23:37:09 EDT
The 'transmission' of culture is achieved through some sort of
material exchange between organisms, if one wants to look at
it that way (e.g. passing words and tools back and forth), but
it is a long-standing 'metaphor' (nothing is literal, nothing
is metaphoric; those notions are gross oversimplifications of
how we make meaning with verbal expressions) which connotes
efforts to achieve the maximal similarity in beliefs, practices,
norms, values, etc. between the transmitters (i.e. those who
are partners in activity, but with greater power) and the
transmittees (coerced partners).
I don't think one need necessarily see such a great difference
between transmitting a virus and transmitting a mathematical
algorithm, if you want to describe them similarly. JAY.
JAY LEMKE.
City University of New York.
BITNET: JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM
INTERNET: JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU