Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19980213231123.007287dc@popmail.mcs.net>
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 23:11:23 -0600
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Aaron Lynch <aaron@mcs.net>
Subject: February 21 Lecture: Memetics and Mass Delusion
On February 21, at 2 PM, I will speak at the Philadelphia Association for
Critical Thinking. The title will be:
Memes and Mass Delusion
Memetics, the replicator science of beliefs, provides a powerful
new tool for understanding the evolution and spread of irrational
thoughts. Understood as information viruses that manipulate human
hosts to retransmit, notions such as astrology, the Roswell myth,
fad diets, bogus cures, and email chain letters become freshly
comprehensible. Even the frustrations faced by skeptics can be
seen as the result of "resistant strains" emerging in response to
standard debunking. New combination debunking methods will hold the
greatest promise of improving the information health of society.
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They have set up a web page for this event, with directions etc. at
http://www.voicenet.com/~eric/phact/aaron.htm.
--Aaron Lynch
http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/thoughtcontagion.html
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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