Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 09:36:53 -0500 (EST)
From: "Lawrence H. de Bivort" <debivort@umd5.umd.edu>
To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
Subject: Re: memetics-digest V1 #95
In-Reply-To: <ECS9912011125A@imap.uea.ac.uk>
On Wed, 1 Dec 1999, Soc Microlab2, UEA wrote:
>well, Mr Lavelle has obviously taken too many psychotropic
>substances, but his rant did bring to mind a conspiracy
>theory of my own.
(snip)
>e-mail is still one of the best media for getting directly
>into people's minds (or their attention spans). If you've
>got a contagious yet dangerous idea you want to promulgate,
>all you have to do is pretend to be a stark raving lunatic,
>coming up with another apocalyptic conspiracy or whatever,
>and everyone will be simply gagging to read your theory to
>have a laugh. Hey presto - meme transfer.
I don't think I would call this a transfer. The content was there (I
suppose and taking it at face value) but the structures needed to give the
content memetic properties, including transferance, are absent.
Beyond this actual example, it is interesting to consider that embedded
within an otherwise incompetent-looking communication might be a hidden,
memetically competent communication.
As someone more interested in the utility of memes than their scientific
aspects, I do worry about the ethical implications of memes, and this
latter notion only accentuates the concern.
Best regards,
Lawrence de Bivort
The Memetics Group
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