From: "John C. 'Buck' Field" <info@fieldoperative.com>
To: <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
Subject: RE: HEA report on religion and mental health
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 14:32:59 -0500
In-Reply-To: <NBBBIIDKHCMGAIPMFFPJOEDADNAA.richard@brodietech.com>
Frequently the term Mind Virus is used to equate memes in general with predatory
memes, ignoring the infections that are crucial for our survival.
Cultivate A Healthy Mind With Reason, Empathy, And Clear Vision.
Project Management and Technical Writing - www.fieldoperative.com
>-----Original Message-----
>From: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk [mailto:fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk]On Behalf
>Of Richard Brodie
>Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 1999 11:55 AM
>To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>Subject: RE: HEA report on religion and mental health
>
>
>Derek wrote:
>
><<A few weeks ago I was talking to somebody on the list about whether
>religion
>is selected at the level of the individual (ie. is it physically good for
>you?) or at the level of the meme (ie. is it bad for you but propagates fast
>enough to overcome this?).
>....
>So it
>seems that religion not only keeps you healthy but also makes you rich.
>
>All in all, this is, I think, clear selection at the level of the
>individual, ie. not a 'mind virus'. If religion were a mind virus,
>religious people would be poor and mentally distressed (whereas that
>description only seems to refer to atheist academics like me.....) >>
>
>1. Academia is also a mind virus.
>2. Feeling good about adopting a meme (because it resolves confusion about
>the puzzling nature of the universe, for example) is one way that memes are
>selected for. So no one should be surprised when people infected with common
>memes feel good.
>3. Despite the shock value of the term "mind virus," there's no reason to
>think that having one is really bad for you. I've been criticized in my book
>for not being hard enough on religion, but I think religion has great value
>if consciously followed, especially as regards consciously choosing my
>mental programming to be in alignment with my purpose.
>4. The distinction you are drawing between "the level of the individual" and
>"the level of the meme" is confusing to me. Individual minds are the
>selective environment for memes. Are you implying that religions are
>phenotypic expressions of genetic evolution? If so, how do you account for
>the success of televangelism?
>
>Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com
>http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie
>
>
>===============================================================
>This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
>Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
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>see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
>
===============================================================
This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the
Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission
For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing)
see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit