> >3) For knowledge to spread, it must reach a receptive audience.
>
> This seems a tiny bit black-and-white... I'd rephrase and say that if memes
> transmit to a mind which contains dominant memes which are largely
> incompatable with the new arrivals, then the new memes /won't do as well/ as
> if the receiver-mind contained memes in agreement with them. Knowledge
> spreads better, the more receptive the audience is.
This is probably "true" to some degree, but some memes can get into a
mind that is composed primarily of incompatible memes and then use a
reframing strategy to shift the host's world view so that all the old
incompatible memes remain, but play new functional roles within the
host's consciousness. Human minds seem to be able to incorporate useful
concepts and strategies that would conflict with their entrenched
worldviews if fully intergrated, but do so in such a way that they don't
make the associations which would seem obvious to an outsider, i.e. my
mother who has earned post grad degrees in chemisty, bio-chemistry, and
computer science and believes in demonic possesion.
I realize that the above requires some unpacking, but I fear I'll have
to leave that for someone else or for some other time. The time leach
bekons. Yes, master!
-KMO