RE: virus: What makes memes compete?
Wright, James 7929 (Jwright@phelpsd.com)
Fri, 11 Apr 97 10:04:00 EDT
Robin wrote:
>>The answer to your question of "can a mind carry competing memes" is
>>yes, of course. Memes don't compete--their /expressions/ in the
>>real world compete...[LDC]<<
>Umm, that's not entirely true. Ever heard of "cognitive dissonance"?
>It has been shown experimentally that, though conflicting ideas can
>be held simultaneously, there will tend to be some intereference
>between them, apparently at the unconscious level. If you're
>interested, look it up in the index of any introductory psychology
>text.<
I once spent several years in a job I didn't like, doing work that was
rarely challenging, picking up a few useful skills on the way and
learning about how bureaucracies and filing systems and paper trails
work. I told myself the whole experience was "cognitive dissonance", and
that the bad-tasting medicine I swallowed daily really would eventually
make me a healthier, better person.
I think it did, once I left that position.
james