Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19970805145829.006e0050@popmail.mcs.net>
Date: Tue, 05 Aug 1997 14:58:29 -0500
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Aaron Lynch <aaron@mcs.net>
Subject: Re: Explanatory coherence
In-Reply-To: <199708051834.NAA24443@mailhost.onramp.net>
Aaron Lynch responding to Mark Mills:
>>There is a DISTINCTLY MEMETIC explanation of what
>>caused monotheism: In a society where numerous god-memes accumulate in =
a
>>population, they start subdividing their access to their host's replica=
tion
>>faculties (host resources). This creates an advantage for a new god-mem=
e
>>which says "I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no false gods before
>>me." For more about this, see p. 98-99 of THOUGHT CONTAGION.=20
>
>Aaron,
>
>If god-memes are accumulating in a population, what do you think is the=20
>best means of counting them? =20
There are at least 2 questions, one concerning how to count the instances
of ONE god meme--i.e., measuring its host population. This involves makin=
g
functional definitions of who is a host, etc. See my discussion with Tim
Perper about Demeter in late May under the thread "Meme extinction."=20
Another question is how to enumerate different god-memes in one host. Wit=
h
god-memes, it usually suffices to consider memes distinct if the "gods" i=
n
question have different names and are believed to be separate entities by
the believer. So if you believe in Zeus and Demeter, these are enumerated
as 2 god-memes in one host.=20
>In keeping with the dialog, do you think the monotheistic memes are the=20
>artifacts in the environment? a brain pattern?
I don't know how a transition from polytheism to monotheism might have
happened in the first host. This is a bit like asking whether a particula=
r
mutant gene first arose from a cosmic ray, a free radical, or a
transcription mishap. The meme does consist of information stored in the
brain, but asserting a particular theory of the mechanisms of human memor=
y
is not necessary for the MEMETICIST. Extraterrestrials and robots might o=
ne
day be discovered to hold monotheism memes. (By analogy, many kinds of
memory can store an e-mail message.)
>Finally, is the new god-meme which says 'have no false gods' a=20
>evolutionary mutation of 'have any god' or 'have a god'? Is there=20
>something of a coded switch that once meant 'have a god' and through=20
>thoughtless replication error became 'have no false gods'?
There are indeed many possibilities for just what god-meme it was that
first mutated into a monotheistic god-meme. We have written records of th=
e
result, but not of the mental process that first produced it.
>In the Christian tradition, there is the notion that 'in the beginning=20
>there was the word.'
The following might be interesting to you in relation to this:
"A good example from the realm of religion is the idea of giving mystical
significance to spreading "the Word," as in the Gospel according to John:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word w=
as
God." Clearly the faith spreads more vigorously by telling adherents that
to spread the Word is to instill God himself. With a capitalized "Word"
like this, it=92s no wonder that biblical literalism gains prevalence eve=
n in
a modern scientific society."
--Self quote from the following online article:
Thought Contagion and Heaven's Gate
(http://www.heise.de/tp/englisch/special/mem/2160/1.html)
Aaron Lynch diskutiert die Theorie der Memetik anhand der UFO-Sekte
Heaven's Gate - gefaehrliche Ansteckung.
http://www.heise.de/tp/deutsch/special/mem/2167/1.html
--=20
--Aaron Lynch
THOUGHT CONTAGION:
How Belief Spreads Through Society
The New Science of Memes
Basic Books. Info and free sample:
http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/thoughtcontagion.html
===============================================================
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