Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.19980512141757.006c8028@popmail.mcs.net>
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 14:17:57 -0500
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
From: Aaron Lynch <aaron@mcs.net>
Subject: RE: Machiavellian Memes
In-Reply-To: <3.0.1.32.19970926095615.00699d78@popmail.mcs.net>
>Richard,
>
>At 08:19 AM 9/25/97 -0700, Richard Brodie <RBrodie@brodietech.com> wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>>Excellent point. I've received a bit of flak from hard-line atheists (I
>>guess Dawkins would fall into this camp) for my chapter on religions in
>>VIRUS OF THE MIND. I pointed out, as you do, that mind viruses though they
>>are, religions can and do program people for success and happiness. Of
>>course, I believe one should be aware of this and choose one's own memetic
>>programming rather than be unaware and have no choice but to accept what
>>you happen to be dealt, that seems "true."
>
>I haven't seen the flak regarding your religion chapter, though my own
>religion chapter has drawn some flak from people who regard religions as
>divinely created.
>
>But in fairness to atheists, I should mention that you haven't exactly been
>trying to avoid them. Several people told me to look at the discussions of
>a "Church of Virus," which espouses an "atheistic religion." Inspecting the
>list, I found a post from you in which you offered a "memetic revelation"
>of the existence of "God" and "the Spirit."
[snip]
It is possible that my last sentence above could be taken as containing
out-of-context quotes. The full quote, which was removed from the
"lucifer.com" web site after our earlier discussion is:
From: Richard Brodie <RBrodie@brodietech.com>
Subject: virus: A memetic revelation
Date: Tue, 2 Sep 1997 21:17:24 -0700,
As they say in The Forum...
Life is empty and meaningless.
And the fact that it's empty and meaningless is empty and meaningless.
Attaching a value to the fact that all our meaning is made up is making the
same mistake as when we don't realize that all our meaning is made up.
That said, life is meaningless only on one level.
The other day I had a revelation. My first?
The revelation was that God exists.
It is perfectly possible, scientifically, for God to exist.
Just as memes exist, though not based in physical reality, they are an
emergent property of the human nervous system.
God is an emergent property of the billions of minds on the planet.
The Spirit is a tangible force that is created, not creator, of the human
mind. This force exists and causes things that no individual or group is
consciously causing, just as the human mind causes things unbeknownst to
the underlying cells of the body.
Complexity theory tells us that the nature of an emergent phenomenon is
unpredictable from and unrelated to the mechanics of its underpinnings.
So the fact that all our memes are empty and meaningless does nothing to
negate the possibility of a meaningful God, an emergent property of memes.
The INSTANT I had that revelation, I felt a tangible shift in my feelings,
my energy. Since that day, now a couple of weeks ago, I have been lovingly
and peacefully accepting and creating.
Wow.
Contact.
Richard Brodie RBrodie@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
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