RE: Why Europe is so Contrary

From: Jeremy Bradley (jeremyb@nor.com.au)
Date: Sat 23 Nov 2002 - 10:39:29 GMT

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    At 07:16 AM 22/11/02 -0800, you wrote:
    >>
    >>
    >>Snip....................Joe:
    >> >> ...the US has to be blamed for EVERYthing. I don't think you have
    >>carefully
    >> >> considered the memetic nature of the threat to postmodern civilization
    >> >> by a violently cannibalistic medieval memeset.>
    >> >>Snip.............
    >>
    >>Maybe that is what we have got Joe, a 'postmodern civilisation'; everyone
    >>defines their own; everyone doubts the Grand-narratives. But, at the same
    >>time, everyone is civilised too. To think that this blissful state of
    >>affairs could be jeopardised by 'a violently cannibalistic medieval
    >>memeset', it's tragic. Now is that a medieval memeset that violently
    >>devours other medieval memesets, or just other memesets in general?
    >>And Joe, have you considered the effect, on existing civilisations, of
    >>allowing a new violently cannibalistic memeset to have political and
    >>economic dictatorship of the planet?
    >>Jeremy
    >>
    >
    >All memesets are canibalistic in the sense that the culture we pick up and
    >use drives out old memes which go unused. If we don't use a meme, we lose
    >it. There are limits, based on time and space, that restrict the number of
    >memes we can use from day to day. The way we spend our time also determines
    >which memes get used and which don't. We tend to think more about what we
    >spend our time doing than things we don't. So I'm not using the term
    >canibalistic in the sense that one meme consumes another but in the sense
    >that the memes we use cause the memes we don't use to die of neglect.
    >
    >Grant

    Thank you Grant. BTW in what sense were you using the term 'post modern'. My understanding of it is a cultural period that followed the modern period. It was characterised by a questioning of Grand-narratives, such as
    'The Truth', (as if there is only one), justice, civilisation. IMHO, it is kind of a latter-day sophisticism. Jeremy

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