Re: virus: Curriculum (Sunday School?)

Duane Daniel Hewitt (ddhewitt@acs.ucalgary.ca)
Tue, 2 May 1995 16:22:25 -0600 (MDT)


On Tue, 2 May 1995, Sean Morgan wrote:
> An important part of the WASP meme complex is the indoctrination of
> their young in Sunday School.

I have first hand experience with this and was the terror of my Sunday
school teachers. Finally I boycotted church but was forced to sit in the
car and read (pretty good trade off). I just despised the
self-righteous hypocrites.

> Perhaps we could develop such a
> curriculum for virus. In the spirit of B.F.Skinner, I will offer up my
> daughter as a test subject.

I think Virus is much more humane than Skinner's treatment of his daughter.
I have already been experimenting on my younger sister (10 years younger)
since she was born. I infected her with Tolkien memes by reading to her
in the crib. The Hobbit is her favourite movie. I guess I was a pubescent
memetic engineer. ;-)

> At what age should a child be taught pan-critical rationalism? Does the
> (of a well-meaning parent) to abide superstitions, fairy tales, and
> Santa Claus inhibit a young person's creativity, something that is
> invaluable for later success? (yes, even in technical fields!)

> We could also develop a curriculum for adults, much like the fictional
> Zetetic Institute in Steigler's _David's Sling_. The Prisoner's
> Dilemma, Transactional Analysis, Kepner-Tregoe's Problem Solving, what
> else?
Don't forget the shining examples of Scientology and the Branch Davidian's.

Duane Hewitt