Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id UAA09031 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 21 Jun 2001 20:32:22 +0100 From: <FamilyFirm@aol.com> Message-ID: <3a.16bd035b.2863a503@aol.com> Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 15:29:07 EDT Subject: Re: memetics-digest V1 #686 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part1_3a.16bd035b.2863a503_boundary" X-Mailer: AOL 6.0 for Windows US sub 10524 Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
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This line of thought considering martyrdom makes me wonder about what we
might think of as the symbiotic relationships between emotional states with
memeplexes. For instance certain categories of memes may have evolved in the
context of triggering certain emotional states that serve the memes'
competition for mind space. The extreme emotional state of a martyr is
probably consciously expereinced in the context of a community (either
physical or metaphysical) of which the martyr is a part. My guess is that it
taps in to some hardwiring that is associated with parental protection of
offspring, even at their own expense. The parents sense of "self" is extended
to the offspring so that self destruction to insure the survival of the
offspring works. It could be that this parental programing around this
extended sense of self is expanded to a even larger sense of self that is
associated with a community with which they profoundly identify. And
superordinant to the biology all of this is actually inservice to
preservation of memeplexes.
This line of thought also lead me to wonder is there is a category of memes
that might be considered "memeplex busters". Something akin to lightening
that starts forest fires that are a part of an evolving biome.
Joe
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