Re: virus: Re: Rationality

Tim Rhodes (proftim@speakeasy.org)
Fri, 28 Feb 1997 10:58:00 -0800 (PST)


On Thu, 27 Feb 1997 jonesr@gatwick.geco-prakla.slb.com wrote:

> Prof. Tim wrote:
> > Then I think "influence" is the correct word to describe the effect of a
> > meme. Don't you?
>
> I suppose it all really depends on what the final decision (like there's going
> to be one!) on whether rationality, as a process, is a meme-complex or not.
> If it is, then your "self" is made up of memes, operated upon by a far
> superior and complicated meme-complex. Therefore, *all* your mechanisms
> of thought and reason are memes.

No, I don't think so. All the mechanisms you are /aware of/ are memes.
Or are translated into them so you /can/ become aware of them. As we've
seen, there's a whole lot going on that our conscious mind never gets
clued in on (no, I'm not going to harp on the limbic system again).

> This means that whatever you do, a meme
> has been the factor which prompts the action.

Again, I don't see it that way. A meme is the tool your non-conscious
mind uses to tell your consciousness why it did the said action. BTW have
you read _The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bi-Cameral
Mind_? I wish I could remember who wrote it. Let me get back to you on
that...

Prof. Tim