From: Joseph Bloch <ulfgrim@nac.net>
To: memetics <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Meme Extinction
Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 14:49:35 -0400
Message-Id: <18513127903538@nac.net>
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From: Paul Marsden <PMarsden@compuserve.com> (with stuff snipped)
One final point, much of the current discussion about Bloch's paradox seems
to make the implicit assumption that our ability to detect memes somehow is
a prerequisite to their existence. Are we therefore saying that a meme
cannot exist if nobody is conscious of it?
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JB: I would think that there are two mediums in which memes can exist;
human minds and information storage systems (books, computers, etc.). It
seems to me that only when they are found within the mind of at least one
human are they active; memes in books and computers could be considered
"dormant". So, yes, memes can exist outside of human consciousness, but
they only have the ability to self-replicate when found in the mind.
Joseph Bloch (aka Ulfgrim Vilmeidthson)
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