Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19980430142526.00bb0914@popmail.mcs.net>
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 14:25:26 -0500
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Aaron Lynch <aaron@mcs.net>
Subject: RE: Memes are Interactors
In-Reply-To: <000201bd6ed6$cabecac0$bd203fce@rbrodie.halcyon.com>
At 09:42 AM 4/23/98 -0700, Richard Brodie wrote:
>If there's one myth that memetics should explode, it's that GOOD ideas
>survive better than others simply by virtue of their own virtue. You
>actually can do much more than your modest claim: you can package your ideas
>effectively, like Lady Godiva packaged her message by pressing all the human
>buttons that draw people's attention.
>Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie
>Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme"
>http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/votm.htm
>Visit Meme Central! http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm
Speaking of "buttons" and "packages," isn't the term "technology group"
just being used as a "button" at the http://www.brodietech.com site? There
is little more than a pointer to a "Meme Central" URL at that site now, but
previously, it was done up to look like the home page of a software
company--complete with a solicitation for programmer resumes. No products
offered, however. Apparently "software company" makes a great "button" to
push these days, too. Unfortunately, it also tends to cause immune
reactions in scientists and skeptics looking for the full story of "Meme
Central."
The practice of critically testing and challenging new theories is inherent
to science. So in science, the discovery of falsified data or misleading
information is far more damning than in fields such as politics or
business. Memetics cannot accept lower standards than other branches of
science. Therefore, a very high standard of factuality and honesty is
needed to impress serious scientists coming in to give the field their
serious consideration. For these professionals, any finding of facts or
data being misrepresented can trigger an intense immune reaction--even if
it is shrugged off by people who already accept memetics. This includes not
just web buttons, but also "research institute" buttons on book jackets. If
all the "button pushing" sells an extra 10,000 books but immunizes an extra
100,000 scientists in the process, then you have not necessarily done a
service to the science of memetics.
--Aaron Lynch
http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/thoughtcontagion.html
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