RE: virus: Logic and Purpose

Richard Brodie (RBrodie@brodietech.com)
Fri, 17 Oct 1997 09:34:17 -0700


On Thursday, October 16, 1997 5:07 PM, David McFadzean
[SMTP:david@lucifer.com] wrote:
> >In "Getting Past OK" Richard suggests that one discover their
> >personal purpose. Once discovered, this purpose acts as a center
> >or beacon around which goals can be formulated and pursued.
> >Such an individual is consistently seeking the same purpose but
> >will not necessarily be in any other way consistent or reasonable.
>
> There are some questions that Richard doesn't touch on in the
> book (to my knowledge). Where does the personal purpose come
> from? Can it be changed? The core needs are all things that
> one seeks, what about things that one avoids?

David, have you read Plotkin's "Darwin Machines"? It touches on a lot of
the questions you've been asking lately.

My current belief is that core needs don't change, but I'm not wedded to
the idea. Where do they come from? Genes and early memes? Not really
relevant to the question of what to do about it. What about things one
avoids? My experience is that it is more important to know what you want
than what you don't want. There's a chapter on this.

Richard Brodie RBrodie@brodietech.com http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie
Author, VIRUS OF THE MIND: The New Science of the Meme
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/votm.htm
Visit Meme Central: http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm