Re: virus: Extrocranial Memes (was: Newsweek - Science finds God)
C.A. Cook (coreycook12@email.msn.com)
Mon, 3 Aug 1998 21:58:41 -0500
Tim wrote:
>This is why I prefer to only label as "memes" those ideas which are
>transmited in some form from one decision making system (a human brain in
>most cases) to another, similar system. Until <There ain't no flyin'
pigs!>
>travels from inside your head to the inside of someone elses, no meme is or
>was present.
>
>(BTW, Wade, this simplifies your quest for that elusive lil' bugger.
Unless
>there is a change in state in a system /as a result of contact with another
>system/, then you don't have a meme. So, to the extent it is possible to
>track both communication and changes in state (ideas held), one can, in
>fact, hunt for the fabled meme with relative efficacy.
This is interesting simply because it denies the possibilities of memes
within
a single brain. Unless, of course, a single brain can host more than one
decision making system. I am prejudiced toward this position, since it
helps
me explain the mind to myself.
Corey A. Cook