Re: virus: Memetic Engineering

Eva-Lise Carlstrom (eva-lise@efn.org)
Mon, 10 Aug 1998 16:59:51 -0700 (PDT)


On Wed, 5 Aug 1998, David McFadzean wrote:

> Maybe the alleged level-3 ability of being able to hold two
> contradictory beliefs simultaneously true is just a realization
> that definitions and categories are necessarily fuzzy. The
> paradox goes away when you elaborate the statement "Humans are
> [not] animals" to "Some humans are [not] animals" or "Humans
> are often [not] like animals".
>
> Which are the following statement are true? Or put another
> way, how true are the following statements?
>
> I have a body.
> I am hosted by a body.
> I have a mind.
> I host memes.
> My mind hosts memes.
> My brain hosts memes.
> I am a meme.
> I am a set of memes.

That's a really nice list of statements, David. It made me smile. Those
who are either bothered or intrigued by considering their truth values
would probably find George Lakoff's work on metaphors and category theory
interesting. I recommend the long work _Women, Fire, and Dangerous
Things_ and the short work _Metaphors We Live By_.

--Eva