Re: virus: PHIL: Maxims

David McFadzean (dbm@merak.com)
Sun, 12 Nov 1995 12:29:35 -0700


At 05:27 PM 11/10/95 -0800, Twirlip of Greymist wrote:

>1) Not a topic I want to tackle straight off. Details?
>2) Memes are just complex patterns. They don't "exist" the way atoms do
>or souls are supposed to.

I would like to suggest that memes exist in exactly the same sense that
atoms do: they are both patterns. Atoms are of course systems of sub-
atomic particles, which in turn are patterns of quarks. And we have no
reason to believe that quarks are the end of the story. Existence seems
to be a quality we attribute to reified patterns, i.e. information
considered to be an object for conceptual convenience.

--
David McFadzean                 dbm@merak.com
Memetic Engineer                http://www.merak.com/~dbm/
Merak Projects Ltd.