Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA24990 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:00:26 +0100 Message-ID: <2D1C159B783DD211808A006008062D3101745DD3@inchna.stir.ac.uk> From: Vincent Campbell <v.p.campbell@stir.ac.uk> To: "'memetics@mmu.ac.uk'" <memetics@mmu.ac.uk> Subject: RE: Is Suicide Contagious? A Case Study in Applied Memetics Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 14:57:04 +0100 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Scape-goating surely leads, in general, to the killing of people, not
suicide; or if suicides occur, these are not products of contagion so much
as products of a threat to violence (e.g. recent cases in the UK of
suspected or previously convicted paedophiles committing suicide in the wake
of newspaper campaigns to 'name and shame' people).
Vincent
> ----------
> From: Kenneth Van Oost
> Reply To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2001 8:25 pm
> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: Is Suicide Contagious? A Case Study in Applied Memetics
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Wade T.Smith <wade_smith@harvard.edu>
> To: memetics list <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
> Sent: Friday, April 20, 2001 10:15 PM
> Subject: Re: Is Suicide Contagious? A Case Study in Applied Memetics
> > On 04/20/01 15:48, Robin Faichney said this-
> > >But is anyone really suggesting that genuinely
> > >non-suicidal people might be influenced to commit suicide?
> > More to my original ethical consternation about these experiments, and
> > JR's original wording, how else can you offer proof of influence except
> > that you've managed to make someone kill themselves?
> > And how can you prove that unless you have people who have no
> inclination
> > to do anything like that in the first place?
>
> Hi Wade,
>
> Just slippin' in,
>
> Cases like you mentioned above can be explained by the scape- goat-
> principle. If, in a sense you could prove that the media, or anything or
> anyone else uses that principle in their reports, writings and/ or sayings
> you have a point.
> If for example, the media in reporting about a recent suicide pin points
> its reports to the social background/ the age of the partents, the colour
> of the hair of the little girl,... in other words, marginals somehow than
> a group of people, and thereby influences others you have managed
> in a way that people would kill themselves who had no inclination to
> that in the first place.
> But that's need more examination though !!
> I don 't there is any report about such a subject avaible...
>
> But, for a good reference about the scape- goat- principle,
> Le Bouc Emissaire by René Girard, Grasset, Paris 1982
> Don 't know if any translation into English is avaible, maybe have a peek
> on the Net.
>
> best,
>
> Kenneth
>
> (I am, because we are)
>
>
> ===============================================================
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>
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Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
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