Re: MEMETICS: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

From: Michael Lorrey (retroman@tpk.net)
Date: Wed Jan 22 1997 - 07:19:01 MST


David Musick wrote:
>
> Michael Lorrey said "... a meme's "capsule" is not separate from the content,
> they are homogenous."
>
> Actually, this isn't true. The *content* of a meme is different than the
> *effect* it has on its host. One cannot usually evaluate the "goodness" or
> "badness" of a meme, based only on the meme itself. It must play itself out
> in a memetic environment of some sort that can host it, and the *effect* it
> has there will depend as much on the content of the meme itself as it does on
> the properties of the memetic environment. Different minds will respond
> differently to the same memes.

Which has nothing to do with the separation or nonseparation of a meme
and its supposed "capsule". How a mind responds to a particular meme is
typically a function of how the meme reacts with the existing meme
solution in the mind being infected.

Now, one may define a "capsule" as the manner in which a meme is
presented to the individual. Memes presented as part of works of art for
example, would have a sort of surprise or unnoticed injection of memes
to the unprepared, while a talkshow or lecture format would prepare
people and their existing meme's to put up defenses to new ideas.

One could posit that this is why many liberal or libertarian ideas are
introduced to the market and ultimately gain acceptance, while you
hardly ever see a successful conservative new meme, as there are many
more liberal or libertarian artists than conservative artists.
>

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@k=unpack('C*',pack('H*',shift));for(@t=@s=0..255){$y=($k[$_%@k]+$s[$x=$_
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