Re: Snowcrash (SPOILER) - just read it and don't read this post if you haven't yet

From: rrecchia@frontiernet.net
Date: Wed 01 Oct 2003 - 19:14:22 GMT

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    Richard Brodie writes:

    > Ray wrote:
    >
    >> Good list. 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson? It's a good SF
    >> book but I don't recall anything more memetic about it than a
    >> dozen other cyberpunk novels.
    >
    > It's quite cutting-edge regarding memes. It's set in a world where cultural
    > viruses have taken over in a very amusing way, one of the biggest winners in
    > cultural selection being the franchise pizza store, its memetic "DNA"
    > contained in the ever-present three-ring binder constantly being consulted
    > by employees. It also introduces the concept of the "namshub," a powerful
    > mind virus. One of the main subplots is that a group of people is trying to
    > design the perfect mind virus to take over the world.
    >

    I've read 'Snowcrash' There is also John Barnes' 'Century Next Door' where people are taken over by invading mental constructs called memes. There is Peter Watts' 'Maelstrom' which contains quite a bit about memes. There is also Michael Swanwick's 'Griffin's Egg' etc. etc.

    > I have quite a few other recommendations. Press the "Books" button at the
    > top of www.memecentral.com
    >
    > Richard Brodie
    > www.memecentral.com
    >
    >

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