Re: virus: Immortality as a desease

Tadeusz Niwinski (niwinska@direct.ca)
Sun, 27 Oct 1996 22:00:19 -0800


On Oct 26 Lior wrote:
>Mortality is biologically necessairy as long as already existing cells
>cannot mutate in a way which will be marked on their genes.

Very interesting concept. There is a film "Death by Design: Where Parallel
Worlds Meet" apparently about the world of cells where "suicides without
sadness occur billions of times an hour, where individuals do exactly what
is best for the whole society" (a quote from this year's Vancouver
International Film Festival). Has anybody seen the film?

>As usual I'll relate it to memetics - are there any memes which don't
>change at all? don't have any variation or anything; or do they all die?

Memes do not die. Only the hosts do. If memetics is analogous to genetics
-- genes never die, they change (in fact genes are also memes, ie.
concepts). The DNA may "die" or cease to exist in a given configuration. A
death of a cell or of a body is quite different: you can tell "such and such
has died". Genes live in so many bodies it is impossible to tell if they
are dead or not.

You are right, if the analogy is correct, there must be SOMETHING dying for
memes if memes are to evolve. What is it? I am sure these are not memes
themselves which have to die -- it is their "bodies". Memes' bodies can be
us (humans) or books, films, etc. People used to burn certain books with
"wrong" memes. Good question: what is it that dies for mems in order for
them to evolve?

---------------------
Tad Niwinski from TeTa where people grow
3.14159265358979323
There is no Absolute Truth, although we are getting closer and closer to IT.