Re: virus: 200 words for snow

John ''!Boolean'' Williams (prefect@tricon.net)
Wed, 04 Jun 1997 22:22:50 -0400


At 11:28 PM 6/3/97 -0700, Grant wrote:

>Someone asked why the meme that there are 200 words for snow in the
>Inuit language keeps replicating itself. The answer is that someone
>used it once in a widely-broadcast communication and lots of other
>people saw it, liked it, and latched on to it so they could use it
>in their communications.

ahem. clears throat after long silence.

In defense of the memetic theory, I have to point out a couple of things.

<defense expert_status="nil">
Memetic theory bases the transference of cultural units (thoughts, dress
patterns, etc) on a handy metaphor -- suggesting that the reproduction of
these ideas behaves in a fashion similar to genetics.

The behavior that you have described does not deviate much; indeed, it
seems that you've translated the metaphor back... :-)
</defense>

--John

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