I've been indoctrinating (um, I mean teaching...he he) my
undergraduate in both chemistry and memetics (she's a
History and Science student) and after reading Richards
books she had a number of questions and criticisms which
she will be developing into an undergraduate thesis (I'll
keep you informed as the ideas develop).
Anyway, one of the impressions of VoM which we both
shared, and the discussion Eric started, led me down this
path, which I submit for discussion:
"What is the difference between a meme and a 'Virus'?"
Reed: By analogy, it's the difference between a gene and
a virus. The analogy is loose, becuase biological viruses
are encased in supposedly non-heritable "protein coats".
To make the analogy closer we must see all bio-molecules
as more similar than different and also divide memes into
categories which can serve roles complementary to Protien
enzymes, DNA and RNA, structural proteins, oligosaccarides,
etc. The question, as always, becomes...does that contrivance
get us anywhere useful? Jury is still out.
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Another way to view a virus as opposed to a meme is through
the game "Magic" with which some of us are familiar. The
individual cards represent a huge diversity of memes. As the
game devloped some players realized that it was possible to
play cards in an endlessly repeating loop:
A: Activate B
B: Activate A
By adding another level of complexity it was possible to
make the engine do "work" within the context of the game:
A: Activate B and C
B: Activate A
C: Generate 1 unit of energy
Once this set is in operation it produces infinite energy
within the context of the rules. To model a virus we need
one additional level of complexity:
A: Activate B and C
B: Activate A
C: Generate 1 unit of energy
D: Create A,B, and C for X units of energy
This set produces an infinite amount of generators
each producing and infinite amount of energy. It
is these sorts of mind-bending infinities that keep
mathematicians in business.
So now you have a viral "vehicle". All you have to
do to make it a "Virus of the Mind" is insert a little
detail:
A: Activate B and C
B: Activate A and say "REED IS GREAT!"
C: Generate 1 unit of energy
D: Create A,B, and C for X units of energy
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...which, of course, should remind us all of the first
computer program it seems almost everyone has
ever written:
1 print "Reed is Great"
2 goto 1
Computer viruses (this program is not an example,
but it contains the core endless loop) are another
common analogy. Memes are individual commands
or code lines, while the Virus is a program constructed
from them.
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One of the most significant points I think Richard makes
is that once you successfully initiate a Mind-virus it
propogates more or less out of your control. By
manufacturing a "living" entity to do your bidding you
catch yourself in Pygmalion's dillema: your creation
will eventually overcome you.
Perhaps God had the same problem.
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How does this happen? Consider the simplistic
program I showed you above:
1 print "Reed is Great"
2 goto 1
To make a virus of this system we have to add
a made up function:
1 print "Reed is Great"
2 transmit 1,2,and 3 to another
computer and tell it to "run"
3 goto 1
Programmers of computer viruses expend
most of their creative energy trying to make
computers understand the essence of line 20.
The essential insight is that every character
in this program is essential to it's function
except what is between the quotation marks:
"<your advertizement here!>"
A mutation in any one of the other characters:
1 *B*rint "Reed is Great"
2 transmit 1,2,and 3 to another
computer and tell it to "run"
3 goto 1
and the program no longer makes sense to
the computer and your dreams of immortality
are crushed.
On the other hand, the internal information:
"<your advertizement here!>"
can be anything. Thus, the only possible
mutations leading to programs that make
sense to the computer are mutations in the
vital information (which is, of course, that
I'm great!).
-----
Ironic, huh? Build a virus to inform people
of your magnificence and eventually you
might see every computer on Earth saying:
"Reed is a great self-promoter, but his
thinking lacks substance. He's self-absorbed,
and his feet smell. Don't lend him money."
-----
This is just a random thought:
The reason the data can mutate freely:
"<your advertizement here!>"
Is that the quotation marks enclose an
information set which is not intended
to "make sense" to the computer, ever.
You program the computer to print what
it is that the people "need" to see. From the
computer's perspective what is betwen the
lines is a string of characters it must
make visible in order to get to the next line.
-----
I promise this is going somewhere.
-----
"So, what is the point of memetics?"
Reed: Well it allows you to analyze meme
sets like:
1 Print "Reed is Great"
2 transmit 1,2,and 3 to another
computer and tell it to "run"
3 goto 1
and remove the viral coat to reveal:
"<your advertizement here!>"
Which is really the point of the virus, isn't it?
-----
"OK, so then what? What do you analyze
the meme with? Another meme? Where did
that one come from? It seems like this is a
method for allowing the memes you are currently
infected with to stop you from further development."
[Here is where Eric and Richards conversation
about how best to "enjoy" life triggered an
old confusion]
Reed: This is pitfall in memetic thinking. It is
similar to the concept that Dennett tries to do away
with in "Conciousness Explained" the idea that there
is, or must be a "central meaner" a "Core" or a
"center" against which the newly deshelled memes:
"<your advertizement here!>"
are to be evaluated. It violates the gut-reaction of the
exercise in that it creates an absolute, at least an internal
one, and certianly doesn't match Emerson's ideal:
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
-----
I admit here that for a very long time (and likely for
a very long time in the future) I have been stuck in
Level-2, unenlightened, whatever.
I just couldn't answer that one. Real stumper
-----
I offer this preliminary solution:
Imagine the infected mind:
Faith
<Christianity>
Evangelize
Faith
<Coca Cola>
Evangelize
Faith
<Reed is Great!>
Evangelize
Faith
<Your advertizement here!>
Evangelize
88888 Dear Sir: Your 12 register mind is full! 88888
Now, lets do a little memetic reorganization:
Faith
<Memetics>
Evangelize
<Coca Cola>
<Reed is Great!>
<Your advertizement here!>
(empty register)
(empty register)
(empty register)
(empty register)
(empty register)
(empty register)
88888 Dear Sir: Your mind is at 50% capacity 88888
Look at all that free space! Eureka! Who cares
whether or not these ideas are any good or not.
I crammed memetics into a "full" brain and ended up
with 50% less code than before!
So, before we even get to evaluating the ideas,
memetics has provided a serious boon...and who
knows, perhaps that free space is enough that you
never even need to evaluate. You can cram any
old junk in there, so long as you stick to 200 proof
<ideas> and throw away the shells.
Kind of like cracking nuts, eh? Perhaps Richard really
is right:
"If you're hungry for more ideas, try memetics!"
-----
Memetics is a compression program of the mind.
-----
You know, I just noticed that I neglected to include
Christianity in the reorganized mind above.
Interesting.
-----
Furthermore, after you fill the rest of the registers
each of the ideas in your "full" mind is unique. In
the a-memetic mind 2/3 of the space is devoted to
repetition of Faith and Evangelize, which we each
really only need one of, each, don't you think?
-----
One of my favorite TV shows is "The Daily Show"
on comedy central. They always sign off:
"And now, your moment of Zen:"
-----
Memetics is the practice of forgetting yourself
in order to free up enough attention to keep
track of all the things you need to.
-----
"The spoken word was the first technology by
which man was able to let go of his environment
in order to grasp it in a new way."
Marshall McLuhan
Understanding Media, p. 57
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Reed
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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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