Re: virus: The Root of All Unhappiness Lies in Yourself.

zaimoni@ksu.edu
Mon, 13 Jan 1997 01:21:39 -0600 (CST)


On Fri, 27 Dec 1996, Alexander Williams wrote:

> Schneider John wrote:

[CLIP]

> > Good point. What memes give rise to such fanaticism? Which memes
> > might help us distinguish between perceived niceties (artwork, etc)
> > and perceived evils (war), without sounding subjective. Possible?
>
> I don't think it /is/ possible. Its not Politically Correct to say so,
> but War is Good, Baby. Wars have encouraged the majority of our
> technological innovations over the millinea, wars kill off the weak and
> give the strong a Rite of Passage sorely needed to establish societal
> roles. Wars, literally, are the proving ground of the meme.

The tech-level of the war is *critical* in one of the above subarguments.

The strong/weak dichotomy starts to fail when crossbows/firearms enter
the picture, and completely fails in the 20th century. E.g.: Hiroshima,
Nagasaki, artillery targets.

Now, I suppose that military composition could be subject to
evolution--but both expendable manpower, and a continent dedicated as a
warzone, seem to be lacking.

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