Re: virus: RE: All = gene + meme ?

Ken Pantheists (kenpan@axionet.com)
Sat, 10 Aug 1996 15:49:16 -0700


Richard Brodie quoted David McDivitt:

> > I do
> >not feel
> >respected as a human being unless the illusion of choice is honored, so
> >far as I
> >am concerned. Failure to honor choice, even if an illusion, says
> >something in
> >itself.

And responded with:

> Under what circumstances should we
> "program" ourselves with memes that are not true? To feel better? To get
> better results? And what memes should we program other people with?

Both of these have to do with the willing suspension of disbelief as found in theatre.

As I read these over and over I am stunned by how they verge on a theory of narrative-- the
nature of illusion in theatre and its relationship to the trust the audience puts in the
authenticity of a performance.

Could the memes that we program ourselves with be temporary, as if we are trying them out
for two hours? I think that's how theatre and storytelling can work. These could be Soft
Memes.

These soft memes will work differently in different narrative forms. Closed, stable
narratives will produce harder memes than an open, unstable narrative. The latter will
probably even soften some of our presently held hard memes.

-- 
Regards
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Ken Pantheists                    http://www.lucifer.com/~kenpan           
Virus Theatre                     http://www.lucifer.com/virus/theatre
TooBa Physical Theatre Centre     http://www.tooba.com
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