RE: virus: How does the Level-3 mind know which model to use? (was: Memetic Engineering)

Richard Brodie (richard@brodietech.com)
Thu, 6 Aug 1998 13:35:32 -0700

This is an excellent description of Level 2, Joe. But what do you suppose
those postmodern people are talking about? Do you think they're just stupid?
Do you think they have miserable lives? Have you ever talked with a Ramtha
follower? We must be careful to avoid what I call the
distinguish-and-discard trap (D&D). That's where the level-2 mind sets
itself to discarding information that does not fit in with its one model.
That's where you stop learning.

Emerson spoke about breaking out of the box in his great essay "Self
Reliance." I am working on an updated version of this essay in plain
language. It's not out for general consumption, but if you'd like to take a
look at the "beta" version, go to
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/emerson.htm and take a look. In particular
the section "The Blinded Student" is relevant.

Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/
Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme"
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/votm.htm
Free newsletter! Visit Meme Central at
http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-virus@lucifer.com [mailto:owner-virus@lucifer.com] On Behalf Of
Joe E. Dees
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 1998 12:48 PM
To: virus@lucifer.com
Subject: Re: virus: How does the Level-3 mind know which model to use? (was:
Memetic Engineering)
[snip quotes]
Let's not get postmodernly Ramtha-esque here, with "my truth" and
"your truth" and "his/her/its truth." The tonal divisions may be
different in different musical systems, but an octave's still an octave.
Different cultures may have different names for colors (as well as
differing numbers of names and differing positions for the divisions
between them), but each culture's sum total must still seamlessly fill
the color wheel. Hydrogen doesn't care whether someone thinks it
exists or what they think it is, and certainly won't morph to fulfill their
expectations. The Copenhagen Interpretation, Heisenberg and
Schrodinger notwithstanding, there is such a thing as an objective
reality, and the intersubjective world (a product of our co-operating
and competing subjectivities) more and more precisely grasps
(maps) it as our understanding evolves. This is a neverending
process, because the phenomenal world is perceptually
inexhaustible; however, there is a profound difference between
incomplete and incorrect, and we can deny neither of them. Not
having total information is different from having the wrong
information; the same goes for understanding.