virus: level 3

Ken Pantheists (kenpan@axionet.com)
Tue, 12 Nov 1996 13:50:51 +0000


David McFadzean wrote:

Though I found the rest of your post immensely entertaining, I have to
object to the implication in the quoted text. Feeling compelled to
debunk
something in no way lends credence to its existence. No more than
arguing against the existence of god implies that god exists (or the
soul or absolute truth.. :) Certainly the memes exist, but whether they
refer to anything in reality is the question.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

That's exactly the point of view I was trying to convey.

How can level 3 refer to anything in reality? Is your brain a condo with
an elevator that only goes to level three under certain conditions?

There comes a certain point where you can only treat it as a meme and it
is only useful in that form.

"The world is not flat" is a meme that had no reference to anything real
until columbus planted his foot in the Americas. It did not refer to
anything in reality until that moment.

But it had a lifespan before then-- causing Columbus to gather money,
resources and ships for the journey.

A meme doesn't have to have any reference to reality to be immensely
harmful.

I was just talking to a friend of an old Japanese couple who lived
through the years of internment here in BC.

References to reality didn't send them to the camps, memes did.

When you feel compelled to debunk something you do lend credence to its
existence, because you see it as a threat to you and the way you see the
world. Even if it is only a meme.

-- 
Regards
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Ken Pantheists                 
http://www.lucifer.com/~kenpan           
Virus Theatre                   http://www.lucifer.com/virus/theatre
TooBa Physical Theatre Centre   http://www.tooba.com
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

-- 
Regards
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Ken Pantheists                 
http://www.lucifer.com/~kenpan           
Virus Theatre                   http://www.lucifer.com/virus/theatre
TooBa Physical Theatre Centre   http://www.tooba.com
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+