Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 18:23:47 -0700
From: Eric <nocturne@wenet.net>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: With a gleam in his eye...
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> So what is the relevance of Zen meditation to memetics?
Well on the one hand there is Zen meditation, which is, from the
perspective of memetics, a viral concept that, in return for the
quelling of its needs rewards it's host with feelings of serenity,
security and resolve.
And in the other hand there is memetics, a
science/proto-science/mysticism (whatever) that for some provide a
conceptual framework that could be concisely described as a self-aware
meme.The meme meme. At the very least this has the potential to be an
extremely powerful cognitive tool.
And aparently memetics is also a conceptual arena in which a select few
stage electronic super-duels that showcases their superior intellects
and super-human cognitive abilities in text-based mortal combat.
Dr.Intellectuo V.S. Mento the Mindbender in what seems to be the World
Wrestling Federation of the Mind. The most amazing thing about this
place is the way that the combatants manage to very articulately cite
reference after reference, deftly plumbing depths of obscurity that
would cripple an ordinary man, weaving the Immortal Words of the
Published into mighty projectiles of logic.
And all the while not only do they gracefully avoid having an original
idea (which would just cause unnecessary peoblems), but somehow they
also manage to fill entire pages with text that eerily loops completely
around the more conventional attributes of ordinary discussions, like
for instance, a point.
But who needs a point when you're so damned smart.
Of course to ordinary humans it may look like the transcript of a
discussion that might have occured between two robots that had been
rusted in place three feet from each other in the middle of a desert for
five hundred years, but hey...if you can't stand the heat, get out of
the kitchen.
So now you know. The relevance of Zen meditation to memetics, that is.
I hope that I've helped.
Any time.
-Eric
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> So what is the relevance of Zen meditation to memetics?
Well on the one hand there is Zen meditation, which is, from the perspective of memetics, a viral concept that, in return for the quelling of its needs rewards it's host with feelings of serenity, security and resolve.
And in the other hand there is memetics, a science/proto-science/mysticism (whatever) that for some provide a conceptual framework that could be concisely described as a self-aware meme.The meme meme. At the very least this has the potential to be an extremely powerful cognitive tool.
And aparently memetics is also a conceptual arena in which a select
few stage electronic super-duels that showcases their superior intellects
and super-human cognitive abilities in text-based mortal combat. Dr.Intellectuo
V.S. Mento the Mindbender in what seems to be the World Wrestling Federation
of the Mind. The most amazing thing about this place is the way that the
combatants manage to very articulately cite reference after reference,
deftly plumbing depths of obscurity that would cripple an ordinary man,
weaving the Immortal Words of the Published into mighty projectiles
of logic.
And all the while not only do they gracefully avoid having an original
idea (which would just cause unnecessary peoblems), but somehow they also
manage to fill entire pages with text that eerily loops completely around
the more conventional attributes of ordinary discussions, like for instance,
a point.
But who needs a point when you're so damned smart.
Of course to ordinary humans it may look like the transcript of a discussion that might have occured between two robots that had been rusted in place three feet from each other in the middle of a desert for five hundred years, but hey...if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
So now you know. The relevance of Zen meditation to memetics, that is.
I hope that I've helped.
Any time.
-Eric
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