From: Kenneth Van Oost (kennethvanoost@belgacom.net)
Date: Sun 24 Jul 2005 - 10:23:59 GMT
----- Original Message -----
From: Robin Faichney <robin@mmmi.org>
Chris wrote,
> > Grow up non-white in Leeds (or one of many oter places), feel
> > put upon, have internal memes (or whatever) that exclude lots,
> > but favour others. There's nothing 'bad' about the weeds that
> > grow where there is not climax forest; they are just as valid.
> > There is nothing 'wrong' with wanting to kill maim and destroy;
> > this is not a malfunction, it is just another set of behaviours.
> > I abhor this murderous idiocy (before anyone jumps down my
> > throat) but it is not tricky to explain. At least that's how it
> > feels to me.
Robin wrote,
> You call that an explanation? This is the kind of thing that gets
> memetics a bad name.
Hi Robin,
Yes I am still round the block....
I don 't think Chris got it wrong, like him I abhor these insane ideas
and behaviors but nonetheless they can be explained with memetical
terms. Memetics should be from my POV do just more to explain
in its own right why people behave like this. We have the expertise
to do so !
Why shouldn 't we !? Nothing else seem to cling !?
If we harbor the memetic main idea that minds can and will be effected
by harmless/ sick- making/ killing ideas why shouldn 't we try to explain
why kids blow up train and busses !?
If we take memetics like it is, we can easily ' explain ' to others why kids
do this stuff, we can try to convince them to look at the problem in a
memetic way. We can try to convince them that religious inspired ideas
infect their minds, that others manipulate their ' weak ' brains and put in
ideas that make no sense to us .
But it isn 't so that something, like freedom, makes sense to us; is '
absolute ',
is of significance that the same thing rings a bell for others.
Freedom of speech and democracy are things WITH meaning to us, for
others it can be something OF importance...the difference is there why I sit
still and others blow themselves skyhigh.
And in such a context that is what Chris means I think, we can have an
understanding why these things happen, but that doesn 't mean that we' re
all for it. We can have an insight and really see something in it...these
are two
different notions.
I can try to understand other cultures, but do I comprehend in all senses
what
it is to be like a Moslim !? Will I ever, even I study the Islamitic World
in all
of its facets !? And will they understand my world !?
Best regards,
Kenneth
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