RE: Why Europe is so Contrary

From: Virginia Bowen (vbowen@bowenconsulting.net)
Date: Sun 17 Nov 2002 - 18:28:36 GMT

  • Next message: joedees@bellsouth.net: "Re: Why Europe is so Contrary"

    Coming out of lurkdom for just one reply:

    Alan asks: "what has this rant got to do with memetics?" to which I would say "everything".

    I think Joe's point here is that the adoption of memes is fluid (unlike genes which we're stuck with at least until we start grafting on new ones). Thus, the adoption of a memetic belief can and will often be governed by the path of least resistance for many, many people. That, and the path least likely to cause mortal harm - at least in the short run.

    I think he's made a very interesting point.

    By the way, I was once involved in the COV also. The rants against Joe are mainly because the COV appears to be mostly inhabited by those who carry largely politically liberal memes. This list also has that slant. Joe expresses a more conservative memetic leaning. Isn't it interesting to note the way that tribalism expresses itself even in these supposedly intellectual discussions? In other words - there's no escaping it. We ARE a tribal species.

    Just thought fodder.

    Virginia

    CA

    "My treasures do not clink together nor glitter. They gleam in the sun and bray in the night."

    -----Original Message----- From: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk [mailto:fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk]On Behalf Of Alan Patrick Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 7:57 AM To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: Why Europe is so Contrary

    >snipping<

    > The international community adopts a similar approach to the
    > Middle East. After all, who is easier to condemn--Arabs or Jews?
    > And so the pressure always falls on the latter. Especially since
    > everyone knows that their conduct is generally guided by
    > principles of humanity, morality, honesty, compassion and justice.

    What has this rant got to do with memetics?

    Alan

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    =============================================================== This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing) see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit

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