From: Keith Henson (hkhenson@rogers.com)
Date: Tue 30 Sep 2003 - 13:21:13 GMT
At 09:41 AM 30/09/03 +0100, you wrote:
>I have a suggestion. If any group members want to
>continue talking about the war, please transfer the
>discussion to:
>
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CounterTerrorism-L/
>
>where it will be welcomed.
>
>Otherwise, I fear we're going to have the plug pulled
>on all of us. permanently.
I agree.
There is nothing wrong with using wars and politics as *examples* to
illustrate points in a memetics discussion. But unless the main point of a
post is about memetics, it does not belong here.
It is not like the current situation does not provide *plenty* of
opportunity to work in examples. One of the more interesting would be to
plot the growing media interest in the Wilson/"fair game" story. Clearly
memetic, clearly growing with a doubling time on the order of a
week. Obvious parallels to the Watergate history.
Then we could discuss the drivers behind memes like this one involving
social leadership. It is in a tribes interest (as well as individuals) to
bring down those in power when the tribe members have been convinced (by
memes) that the leadership has been poor or has exhibited poor
judgment. Memes are the method to synchronize internal social forces to
depose leadership as well as social forces leading to wars. ("Force" in
the literal sense when leadership is changed by violence.)
Underlying memes we can work in evolutionary psychology with its potential
for deep understanding of what drives primate societies and a possibility
we could do much better playing non-zero sum status games in a world larger
than a tribe.
Lots of opportunities.
Keith Henson
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