endorphemes

From: no email <raven@slip61.ucs.orst.edu>
Subject: endorphemes
Date: 5 Dec 1994 10:34:46 GMT

While idly conversing with a friend over the net this evening,
we stumbled upon the idea (meme?) that it might be useful to
consider abstractly the sensations of pleasure aroused within a host
as a result of access and contemplation of certain memes. Some
interesting lines of thought resulted from the consideration that
some memes have as a part of their replication-strategy a tendency to
excite or stimulate the organismic host in certain ways; we coined
the term "endorpheme" with the loose definition:

endorpheme  A feedback-unit of neural or symbolic pleasure triggered
            by a meme within its host in response to the host's access
            and propagation of the meme.

(an example of "symbolic pleasure" would be the elation one feels at
contemplating/viewing a 1000-dollar bill one has in one's possession)

I'm not certain that this has practical use, but it was somewhat fun
to ponder (ever see someone high on Christ?)

Clearly pleasure is not the only sensation this thought can be applied
to, but as a "feel good" strategy of replication it may be one of the
more important ones.

Do memes interact with one another sexually as well as through 
conflict?  ...

From: hingh@xs4all.nl (hingh)
Subject: Re: endorphemes
Date: 5 Dec 1994 14:17:14 GMT

>(an example of "symbolic pleasure" would be the elation one feels at
>contemplating/viewing a 1000-dollar bill one has in one's possession)

Nice phenomenological experiment:  first contemplate on a 1 dollar 
bill.. how does it feel?   Than add a zero to the number on the bill, and 
repeat that procedure a few times (10, 100, 1000, 10000 [pretending such a 
bill exists]).   How does the feeling change?
First there's an increase in the perceived "symbolic pleasure".  But when
you make the amount of money to high, a memetic immune reaction follows...
To protect you from an overdose of endorphemes perhaps?

>
>Do memes interact with one another sexually as well as through
>conflict?  ...

meme sex = creativity?


++marc
http://www.xs4all.nl/~hingh/

From: nv91-asa@hemul.nada.kth.se (Anders Sandberg)
Subject: Re: endorphemes
Date: 05 Dec 1994 13:29:20 GMT

>Some
>interesting lines of thought resulted from the consideration that
>some memes have as a part of their replication-strategy a tendency to
>excite or stimulate the organismic host in certain ways; we coined
>the term "endorpheme" with the loose definition:
>
>endorpheme	A feedback-unit of neural or symbolic pleasure triggered
>		by a meme within its host in response to the host's access
>		and propagation of the meme.
>
>(an example of "symbolic pleasure" would be the elation one feels at
>contemplating/viewing a 1000-dollar bill one has in one's possession)

A better example would be a joke. Happiness is generally pleasurable for
humans. This is a very useful and direct bait for a meme. In the example
of the dollar bill, the money meme didn't originally have the connotations
of elation, but this has later accumulated since they are so strongly
linked to survival and well being (see R.A. Wilson Prometheus Rising for
more details about this).

>I'm not certain that this has practical use, but it was somewhat fun
>to ponder (ever see someone high on Christ?)

I think "high on Christ" can be taken almost literally. I have a theory
that strong religious feelings release endorphines (or improve the mental
state in other ways). Visualizations of total love, protection, intense
light and unity also facilitates this (see Prometeus Rising for more about
RAWs ideas about the "Neurosomatic circuit", which essentially seems to
be endorphine intoxication).

>Clearly pleasure is not the only sensation this thought can be applied
>to, but as a "feel good" strategy of replication it may be one of the
>more important ones.

Just look at advertisements. (Modern advertisments directed towards the
"ironic generation" which have evolved stronger memetic defenses need to
use more subtle strategies).

>Do memes interact with one another sexually as well as through
>conflict?  ...

Quite often. There are lots of people who like to combine ideas (memes)
and sometimes these mixtures work well. The same is true for memes which
get mixed up in various ways (like the Montanist heresy 300AC, where a
former priest of Cybele mixed Christianity with Magna Mater worship).
--
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Anders Sandberg			 	  	     Towards Ascension!
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