by Len Bruton
I will try to keep this page up to date on a daily basis.
Test 2 is on March 20th, 2003, and will be on any of the topics covered in lectures since the last test and on any of the reading assignments (including the reading assignment below) . The test will be one hour in duration. I will continue to discuss this topic during the tutorial on Thursdays.
Essay List 2 is available and the submission date has been delayed to March 18th, 2003.
Assigned Reading and Preparing for the 60 minute Mid Term Examination: February 27th, 2003, to be held in the normal class time
Assigned Reading for Reading Week
As you know, the next part of the course is concerned about memes and their propagation, especially in the context of the Global Brain. After Reading Week, there is one more lecture before the Mid Term Examination on February 27th.
As mentioned in class, the Mid term Examination will not have any multiple choice questions and will require individual written answers and opinions, based partly on your reading.
You have already been asked to read the lecture notes about memes in my 'Ideas' EULE Lecture. In addition, during Reading Week, I suggest that you read and check out all of the recommended web links in my Part Two Notes. You should become familiar with the ideas of Richard Dawkins and Susan Blackmore on memetics and that of Howard Bloom on the Global Brain and
memetics. Use my links as starting points but also use search engines, such as Google, to find your own web sites to read about memes and their propagation.
It is time for you to start thinking about the really big scientific ideas (that is, science-memes) that have propagated successfully and have led to modern scientific knowledge. Think about the memetic diversity, conformity enforcement and resource shifting.
Enjoy your Reading Week !The Mid term Examination
This one-hour examination will be different in style than the last in-class test that you wrote. You will be asked to write two 30 minute essays on topics relating to material that we have covered in Parts One and Two.
A total of four essay titles will be provided: two from Part One material and two from material that we will have covered in Part Two (including the above Assigned Reading). You will be asked to choose one essay from the Part One list and one from the Part Two list.
