Message-Id: <v03102801b16b1b887a55@[194.109.13.153]>
In-Reply-To: <19980427130710.10768.qmail@www07.netaddress.usa.net>
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 08:11:12 +0200
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Ton Maas <tonmaas@xs4all.nl>
Subject: RE: Memes are Interactors
Josip wrote:
>Some of the buttons you meant probably are something like sex and wealth.
>Such kind of "slick packages" are a good mean for short-term "fooling" of
>people responding on a "low" basic instincts level. But such packages are,
>as Aaron noticed, not productive on a long-term basis because by opening
>of them and seeing their "stinking" content they develop "immune
>reactions" to all packages of such kind. So it could be possible that you
>put a high quality content in such a "cracked" package. This is the reason
>I will not try to pack my ideas in a Lady Godiva manner (not to mention
>the poor quality of my "package material" compared with that on her
>disposal).
You should realize, though, that even from the perspective of the host
"good" and "bad" are extremely complex issues, given the hierarchical
nature of mental processes. As I have argued before, "curiosity" is not a
specific behavior but rather a way of organizing or framing behavior.
Behaviorist psychologist find it difficult to explain why rats in mazes
_continue_ to open doors after having been "punished" for doing so by
electric shocks administered to their probing noses. The reason for this is
the fact that the punishing was addressed at individual instances, while
the overal pattern of "curiosity" was actually rewarded by the discoveries
- whether they were "positive" or "negative" experiences.
Ton
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