Re: virus: Re: Memes are necessarily hosted by sentient beings?

EVINZANT@cc.weber.edu
Tue, 11 Jun 1996 09:30:34 -0700 (MST)


> <---- Begin Included Message ---->
> Date: Mon, 10 Jun 1996 15:25:52 -0400
> From: John Porter <jporter@btg.com>

> Memes are necessarily hosted by sentient beings. So far, that's just us.
> [That is, if there are other meme-supporting minds out there, there has
> been no meme-transfer between them and us. (wink to Tad)]

> <snip>

> --
> John Porter
> jporter@btg.com

> <---- End Included Message ---->

> Did I miss some big part of this conversation? What about all the examples of
> bio-mimicry? i.e.

> Ancient human spear-fisher-person notices spider
> building web.

> Ancient human sees web catch spider-food.

> "Ahah! More passive food catching equals
> more expendable calories!"

> Ancient human spear-fisher-person weaves net and
> (due to successful x-fer of web-meme from
> spider to human brain), becomes...

> Ancient human net-fisher-person.

> ...who continues to ponder and refine the web idea until...

> Ancient human net-fisher-person becomes

> [many generations pass]

> ...modern human WWWeb-fisher-person.

> Or was that what the wink to Tad was about?

> One step further would be to question whether the spider as the originator (?)
> of the web-meme was carrying it in any mind at all (let alone a sentient mind)
> or whether the web-meme was just simply stored genetically. Regardless, it
> seems to me that any information recording medium can theoretically function
> as meme transport or storage.

Interesting, the transfer of a genetic meme to a "mental" meme. You could say
it was genetic due to the spiders body being designed to make this web...