Re: virus: Memohazard Symbol

Lee Daniel Crocker (lcrocker@calweb.com)
Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:12:25 -0800 (PST)


I think it's important that the symbol be at least tolerated by the
neuroscientific community. Memes are not a sci-fi concept, they're
hard science, started by a respected biologist. Although I'm sure
they'll be (ab)used in fictional ways just like every real science
is, I don't think the primary symbolism should be literary.

To me, the schwa symbol means "nothing here need be taken seriously."
The discordia symbols are better, but I think keeping the 3-way
symmetry of the others is important. I like David's, though I might
do a little more work toward the center. I like my #1, but it's a
little harder to explain--it just feels right. The obvious symbols
we didn't think of are religious ones, but no sense pissing off more
people than necessary.

To get the symbol to be popular and serious, it'll have to be used
in a serious book about memetics, ideally on the cover. So here's
my marketing tip for the day: someone needs to write a book called
"Memohazard: The Science of Infectious Ideas" or something similar,
hopefully someone more scientifically credible well-known than I,
and use that symbol prominently.

Featuring it on this page might be enough, especially if we do a lot
of PR to give the symbol away like the blue ribbons--but let's make
sure it gets into places that will be positive PR first, then let
whoever wants to use it do so.

-- 
Lee Daniel Crocker <lee@piclab.com>  <http://www.piclab.com/lcrocker.html>
"All inventions or works of authorship original to me, herein and past,
are placed irrevocably in the public domain, and may be used or modified
for any purpose, without permission, attribution, or notification."--LDC