Re: electric meme bombs

From: Wade Smith (wade_smith@harvard.edu)
Date: Wed 16 Oct 2002 - 16:44:23 GMT

  • Next message: joedees@bellsouth.net: "Re: electric meme bombs"

    On Wednesday, October 16, 2002, at 11:54 , joedees@bellsouth.net wrote:

    > A concept can be retooled, a speech can be rewritten or a
    > melody can be recomposed in the mind (I can talk to myself, hear, and
    > play tunes there if I try) before they are ever written down, spoken or
    > sung.

    But nobody's ever going to give a shit. And if no-one sees, hears, or knows about your idea, it's not there. Is there such a thing as a meme that is not there? Not in my book. It's either performed, or it's not. Literally. Your idea is useless memetically until you perform the behavior of expressing it.

    Besides, how can I, or anyone else, know this 'idea' of yours unless you behave it?

    Really, this concept of 'memes being in the head' is becoming quite ridiculous to me. The brain is what it is, and, once we perform memetic actions (memes), these brain things become known. Before that, all they are is brain activity, background, memories, conceptions, without voice or presence. Once performed, once entered into the cultural arena, they have, at least, a chance of survival memetically. Your unexpressed idea is not even in the ballpark, to use another metaphor.

    You can't win any cultural survival game unless you're playing.

    And, yeah, it helps to have a program once the players are out on the field, but, even the audience is performing, and your idea, in your head, is not. It ain't even there, memetically. It's a ghost, and that's being kind.

    > It makes no sense to say that Sunday churchgoers
    > reconvert to their faith once a week.

    Never said they did. But they continue the meme of showing up. Whether they are converted, reconverted, faithful, or unfaithful is unknown and irrelevant. They continued the behavior of showing up, and once there, perhaps continue other behaviors common to this meme-plex called church.

    But they are behaving.

    - Wade

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