From: "Richard Brodie" <richard@brodietech.com>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: The information theoretic view Was: JOM
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 10:46:01 -0700
In-Reply-To: <9VeNiGAX2f03EwyW@faichney.demon.co.uk>
Robin wrote:
<<Dawkins' "viruses" are virulent memeplexes, not some other type of
replicator, and it is rather dishonest of you to imply otherwise.
(Unless, of course, you genuinely misunderstand Dawkins' position.)>>
You may be surprised to discover just how much I understand. Let me give you
a little tutorial. Dawkins never even uses the word "memeplex" in his essay
on mind viruses
http://www.santafe.edu/~shalizi/Dawkins/viruses-of-the-mind.html ). That
term has been used to mean both a self-sustaining collection of memes and a
loosely defined cultural replicator consisting of people hosting certain
memes and perhaps including artifacts such as books. I don't see how you can
avoid bringing artifacts into the picture when discussing religions, which
is of course what his essay was about. So I repeat:
>Replicators (including genes and memes) play a
>huge and growing role. I suspect, though that more complex cultural
>replicators composed of artifacts and groups of people with same or
>complementary beliefs -- replicators that Dawkins and I call mind
viruses --
>are becoming more and more important as influencers of the future.
Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com
Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme"
Free newsletter! http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm
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