> >> Has anyone discussed why different minds adhere to different memes? For
> example, why am I an atheist but my
> >> brother a religious fanatic?
> >
> >The answer is within the question, isn't it? Different minds precieve,
> treat and propagate memes differently
> >BECAUSE they're different. Have you any deeper point? Please explain it
> then.
> >
> >Lior
>
> This question seems to hinge on the worn nature-nurture question,
> doesn't it? Possibly the brother holds this particular meme-complex because
> he fundamentally cannot achieve a substantial degree of autonomy, thus
> requiring such a symbiotic relationship with a religious frame of
> reference; or possibly he chooses to maintain that symbiotic relationship
> because he finds it more effective than his previous attempts at fully
> autonomous thought [ref. The EMPRINT Method by Cameron-Bandler, Gordon, &
> Lebeau (NLP research)].
> The two previously posted responses to this question (including the
> one quoted above) seem to suggest that a genetic basis operates in meme
> selection. Do we have any hard evidence to support this, as opposed to
> cultural- or experiential-based selection?
>
> Toward the accumulation of useful information,
> Noctem
I would think available processing power would make a difference. [I'm
thinking computer science.]. It seems to me that a complex meme [one
requiring much power to even understand] may be at a disadvantage
[especially as a newcomer] compared to a simple meme. Over in the
memespace map, that would suggest that one of the axes should simply be
complexity. Regardless of the total space, if a meme takes too much
power to understand, it may not stay in long enough to compete.
It is fairly obvious that the physical/genetic basis can affect how much
power is available in the first place. This is only loosely related to
open-minded versus opinionated: opiniating at very high speed is a
useful trait to a working mathematician, and mathematics is reputed to be
difficult. [Certainly Engineering is traditionally the hardest
undergraduate major, and they seem to dread Calc II.] It is my
impression, looking around me at other graduate students, that the less
opiniated ones do not seem to do as well in terms of total correct effort.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/ Towards the conversion of data into information....
/
/ Kenneth Boyd
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////