I just started reading the hitchikers guide to the universe
Hitchhiker's Guide is certainly a cultural touchstone ... but I
think Robert Anton Wilson is a better koan writer then Douglas Adams ... one
of either's novels is enough IMHO. For irony's sake I recommend Douglas
Adams' Last Chance To See as a follow-up to Hitchhiker's ... and certainly
above any of the other three books in the trilogy. In Last Chance Mr. Adams
goes around visiting species whose extant members can be numbered in the
tens or hundreds. Although "Don't Panic" is certainly excellent advice for
individuals, it doesn't seem like a very good component to include in your
average meme. In fact we might look at panic as a sign of memetic infection
... and "inducing panic" as another way of saying "infecting with" . I
believe Brodie described fear as a mechanism for infection ... i.e. The
statistic "every second another acre of Rain Forest is destroyed" infects
someone with an ecology meme ... but this type of infection doesn't seem as
serious as the more rational vectors like Eco-tourism or cost/benefit
analysis.