RE: virus: FAQ: initial questions

Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Tue, 15 Jun 1999 14:10:16 -0700

Church of Virus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) version 0.01

(a) What the hell is this Level thing you guys keep arguing over?

http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/level3.htm

(b) What is a meme?

A meme is a unit of information in a mind whose presence influences events such that more copies of itself get created in other minds. Memes can be seen as the basic building blocks of culture, or as the software of the human mind.

(c) What's wrong with believing in God?

The same thing that's wrong with believing in anything, if you haven't examined the pros and cons of believing in it. We stand for consciousness, especially with regard to what to believe and purposeful living.

(d) Why start a religion?

It seemed like a logical idea at the time?

(e) What is Universal Darwinism?

A model of evolution that looks at all change as resulting from the natural selection of various entities making copies of themselves with occasional mistakes.

(f) What is the paradigm shift involved with memetics?

The tough pill to swallow is giving up the notion that our ideas are mostly our own, and realizing that we are infested or infected with millions of memes all competing for our mind-share.

(g) What is clarity of purpose?

A way of gaining a high level of control over the memes that compete for your mind-share. By consciously choosing a purpose and then filtering memes through that, we can avoid the confusion and ineffectiveness that comes with being programmed in a less conscious way.

(h) What is phaith?

A variant spelling of "faith" designed to avoid the connotation of blindness or stupidity that some atheists carry. http://www.c-realm.com/phaith.cgi

(i) Why is dogmatic faith a sin?

It combines unconsciousness with memebotism, or devoting a portion of one's life to defending the truth of a meme. Both are dangerous to a person's pursuit of a meaningful and fulfilling life.

OK, I'll stop here...

Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com
Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme" Free newsletter! http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm