Re: virus: Martyrdom

David Leeper (dleeper@gte.net)
Mon, 28 Oct 1996 18:48:31 -0500


Martin Traynor,

> >I don't think the meme "Martyrdom" is as powerful as it seems at first.
>
> In what sense are you using the word power here David? I put it to
> you that any meme which causes the death of its hosts yet still
> manages to replicate has a certain power not commonly found.

IMHO, the martyrdom meme is not what's causing deaths
in the examples we've been talking about on this thread. Rather,
the desperation of the people such as the Palistinians and the Irish
as their homelands are threatened force them to take drastic measures
to defend themselves. The word "Martydom" is simply an effort to put
the best possible face on a bad situation.

-- 
David Leeper
Homo Deus
http://home1.gte.net/dleeper/index.htm