Re: virus: Rationality

jonesr@gatwick.geco-prakla.slb.com
Tue, 25 Feb 97 15:43:28 GMT


Alex Williams wrote:

> jonesr@gatwick.geco-prakla.slb.com wrote:
> > > Memes are not /just/ little packets of information; think of your
> > > memesphere as a `primal soup' of memes, some of which have greater
> > > complexity than others, some of which are active enough that they
> > > `reach out' of the primal soup and affect the world beyond (your
> > > head).
> >
> > Is this the transmission and replication of memes, or are you talking about how
> > they affect your actions?
>
> Considering my Heretical stance on memes not being able to be
> transmitted, it was more a visual metaphor for memes and meme-complexi
> that `reach out' via causing the meta-organism (you) to change the
> environment that surrounds it, causing new memes to arise via
> observational input and changing the primal soup, the memesphere,
> thereby.

Hmmm, this sounds like a method of meme transmission to me! I see what
you mean, though.

> > So if we model memes as atoms then they build molecules, which build
> > cells which build creatures? Does this necessarily mean, though, that
> > rationality, which is more a system of coherent thought, than a
> > packet or sytem of information can be classed as a meme?
>
> Certainly; if we can hold the /idea/ of "rationality" then it is a meme
> or meme-complex,

A point I made somewhere else, though, was: Is rationality itself a
meme, or is the idea that there is such a thing as rationality a meme?
Is it one or the other or both?

> > Surely rationality is a method of interpreting memes than the actual
> > memes themselves.
>
> With what do you interpret memes if not with other memes?

Point.

In fact, one could model it as an OS, drawing on a database. The database contains
the information (memes), and the OS runs on small commands (also memes) to
interpret the infomation in the database! Wow, I like that analogy.

Before anyone accuses me of changing my tune, remember that I don't have a
tune to change :)

> How can you think about something that has to representaion in your
> mind?

The reason I'm thinking about it, is because I don't know the answer,
but would like to.

Drakir