Ah, I see. What, exactly, are the qualifications required to speak here?
Institutionalizing things already? I though the planet TeTa was a little
more freewheeling than that.
But, no, really. Let's have ranks and stuff. I'll be a cub scout and when
I earn my "Virus of the Mind" merit badge then I'll get to be a wolf scout.
I'm so excited. Do we have secret handshakes? Can we persecute people
who don't think like us? If we're going to have a tribe with sacred texts
and rites and everything we better do it right!
We can declare English the official language of CoV! We can take over Oral
Roberts University, rename it the "Richard Brodie memorial TeTa Embassy in
the Heathen Land" and require everybody to attend a 3 year
brainwashing...er "memetic training" before they can become "Level-3"
Memetic witnesses. We can have cool uniforms so that we all know who our
friends are, and we can make people we don't like wear clown hats so we
know who to beat up! I don't want to wear a clown hat! If I read all the
right books and am REALLY obsequious can I wear a uniform?
I'm sorry, I'm getting carried away. I will admit my instant reaction your
"disappointment" statement was "Fuck You!" But I didn't think you would
take that in the essentially good natured way I intended it. I'm terribly
afraid of offending people, you see...so I hope through irony and allusion
I was able to communicate my disagreement with the implict belief: Because
I haven't read Richard's book I don't have anything interesting to
contribute. If you like, I could write a straight-up exposition on the
flaw in thinking your statement was an example of...but I think I'd be as
bored with it as you.
[Warning: the above statements are a JOKE, ironic, not intended to be
interpreted on "Level 2" or whatever. If you got mad then you missed the
context. I don't know why I'm writing this disclaimer, but given recent
experience I felt the need]
Reed
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------