>
> Hello Virions,
>
> I came across this in the last issue of Extropians-Digest. Considering
> that it is a summary of a publically-available article, it should be
> all right to cross-post:
>
> From: Anders Sandberg <asa@nada.kth.se>
> Subject: Re: Public Relations? (a memetic view)
>
> > I recently read the paper "Cultural r/k Selection" by Agner Fog in
> > Journal of Memetics
> > (http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit/1997/vol1/fog_a.html).
> >
> > Fog suggests a memetic analogy to the r/K strategies in biology. An r
> > strategy occurs when there are good opportunities for expansion but
> > also considerable dangers (such as predators or natural hazards). Then
> > it will be advantageous for a species to breed as fast as possible and
> > spend little resources on each offspring. If the population is limited
> > under scarce resources rather than predation, then a K strategy
> > emerges where there are few offspring, but much resources are invested
> > in them. Mice and insects follow r strategies, humans and other large
> > mammals tend to follow K strategies.
> >
> > Fog then applies this to memetics, suggesting that the same strategies
> > apply to memes. Memes that can quickly spread but also are in constant
> > danger due to predation from other memes, unreliable vectors or
> > attacks from opposing memes would follow a r strategy, something Fog
> > calls a regal strategy. Regal memes tend to emphasize the importance
> > of proselytization, defence of the memetic in-group and homogenity of
> > belief - it is more important to spread the meme than [like] it. K
> > strategies among memes (called kalyptic by Fog) appear when the meme
> > cannot easily expand into other meme-pools and there [is] little danger
> > for it. In this case it becomes more important to keep the hosts of
> > the meme interested in it, so selection for positive effects of being
> > infected will occur, there is little need for keeping the variants of
> > the meme similar etc. Fog then goes on analysing cultures with this
> > framework.
> >
> > Note the similarity between "movements" and regal strategies, and
> > traditions/idea currents and kalyptic strategies. A movement seeks to
> > expand its base, becoming more able to influence more people. They
> > often seek to retain something of an ideological purity (which often
> > results in them splintering into mutually competing sub-movements). An
> > idea current has no real drive to expand, it spreads to hosts that can
> > accept the meme and have little need for orthodoxy. If Fog's model is
> > correct, then we should expect movements to appear in memetic niches
> > where it is possible to gain many converts, but there is also plenty
> > of opposition, and idea currents in memetic niches where it is not
> > easy to gain new converts, but little opposition.
>
> <remainder regarding "Extropian movements" snipped>
>
> I figure that the term "kalyptic" comes from the muse Calypso in
> Homer's _Odyssey_. They way in which she trapped and held Odysseus
> through her song and love seems a good allegory for the way in which a
> k-complex would operate.
>
> This summary relates to what I was tying to get across with my elitism
> suggestion some days back. In spite of Mr. Fog referring to
> non-elitist complexes as regal (which I figure comes from the analogy
> of conquering and ruling territory), the best historical application
> of this type of memetic contagion that I know of is the spread of
> Zoroastrianism in the Persian Empire, where it was restricted to the
> nobility. In this way it served to reinforce the idea of conquest with
> a "God is with the righteous" concept.
>
> >From the standpoint above, CoV fits into the scenario proposed for a
> k-strategy, not an r-strategy. There is no substantial threat to
> memetics as far as I know, not in the public's eye -- it is usually
> unknown or when known considered either wierd or overly mechanical,
> but not actively opposed. There is also no "obvious" reason to
> convert to a memetic point of view, as people generally consider their
> lives to be getting along well enough without too much introspection
> and analysis (what percentage of people browse through the science
> section in Barnes & Noble, compared to the self-help books -- not to
> mention the romances?). We find ourselves in a position akin to the
> k-strategy environment: our memes cannot easily expand into other
> meme-pools (hence the debate about the banner ad), there is little
> active opposition to us, selection for positive effects of infection
> is a general effect of debate on this list, and there is little need
> for keeping the variants of the meme similar -- which the discussion
> here actively works *against*.
>
> This suggests that a widespread use of banner graphics or similar
> advertisements may be counterproductive, *unless* they are restricted
> to sites which target a specific type of host. Perhaps we could set up
> (if possible with the systems we Virions have access to) a cookie-based
> advertisement vector, working on how many times individuals visit
> members' sites. The idea that I mentioned in an earlier post (ref.
> "virus: neurological contagion and 'Virtual plague(tm)'") could be
> applied here: when a person visits a certain number of times, or a
> certain variety of sites, they would receive a notification of a
> "Virtual Meme" or some such (the title would have to have some
> advertising flair). They would then have to go to the CoV site to pick
> it up -- probably not through the main page, but a subsidiary.
>
> Getting people interested in visiting the sites in the first place
> might be a problem, but by targeting the proper individuals we might
> be able to work something out. One infection strategy I've been
> flirting with is to set up a CoV remailer. This would target
> portions of the cypherpunk/cryptorebel and privacy sectors, and many
> of the individuals in those communities (especially the former)
> already host meme-complexes that would be more succeptible to
> contagion than those of the General Population(tm). It'll be a while
> before I have the resources to do this, otherwise my pages wouldn't be
> on Geocities... anyone have the available resources and interest?
>
> Best regards,
> Gairovald mailto:argos@DeathsDoor.com
>
> "I have fun thinking, too. But we're atypical."
>
> -- Michael Butler
>