Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id KAA22406 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 24 Jan 2002 10:02:23 GMT Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 01:58:00 -0800 Message-Id: <200201240958.g0O9w0l07570@mail24.bigmailbox.com> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: binary X-Mailer: MIME-tools 4.104 (Entity 4.116) X-Originating-Ip: [65.80.160.36] From: "Joe Dees" <joedees@addall.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: The necessity of mental memes Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk('binary' encoding is not supported, stored as-is)
>Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 04:11:27 -0500
> memetics@mmu.ac.uk Keith Henson <hkhenson@cogeco.ca> Re: The necessity of mental memesReply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>
>At 09:49 PM 22/01/02 -0900, "PHILIP JONKERS" <philipjonkers@prodigy.net>
> wrote:
>>Keith:
>> >"Replicating ideas" are
>> > always changing in the minds of those they infect, and they can mutate
>> > (sometimes a lot) with every new person they infect. It is hard to predict
>> > exactly what behavior a particular meme will be inducing next week,
>>because
>> > you never know how the meme may interact with other memes, or mutate.
>>
>>The dynamics of memes in brains may be capricious indeed, and I think that's
>>the
>>reason why media which guarantee higher longevity such as written language
>>helped prevent the rate of meme variation to reach counter-productive
>>levels.
>>After all, to make evulution possible memes should retain at least some of
>>their substance over time and upon transmission.
>
>I have commented on this in the past and speculated that one of several
>reasons the Rajneesh cult failed was due to the lack of a written version
>of the meme.
>
That's because it was a cult of changeable personality (he continually changed his (purportedly enlightened) mind), rather than a cult of fossilized dogma. When the Bhagwan died, it was,for his acolytes, as though every Bible in the world was incinerated.
>
>Keith Henson
>
>
>===============================================================
>This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
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This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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