RE: virus: Holiday Season Game

Gifford, Nathan F (NG130670@exchange.DAYTONOH.NCR.com)
Wed, 18 Nov 1998 13:35:46 -0500

Given the transcendental nature of memes I'm not sure if there is an answer
to the question: "Are memes atomic?". For me, Rudolph is a member of the
class reindeer and is atomic - but in addition reindeer as a class is
atomic. Xmas itself is a composite of memes composed of other composites
like the entire St. Nick composite, The Jesus composite, etc. etc.. But,
when I see a reindeer with a red nose - that's Rudolph. When I see a
reindeer in harness without a red nose - that's one of Santa's reindeer.
Similarly,when I see an empty bag it has a hazy meaning - The Ginch, The
post office, Santa, etc., but when I see a bag full of presents that's
Santa's bag <atomic>. Admittedly, the line between what are "linked atoms"
and what is a "composite" meme is pretty hazy ... still if enough people
want to play it could be fun.

I have the same problem with the Ofay or Soul game by the way ... Are Stevie
Wonder's early hits Ofay or Soul? We have similar problems with The
Supremes and Michael Bolton <OFAY>.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: David McFadzean [SMTP:david@lucifer.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 1998 12:00 PM
> To: virus@lucifer.com
> Subject: Re: virus: Holiday Season Game
>
> At 09:17 AM 11/18/98 -0500, Gifford, Nathan F wrote:
>
> >I would like to propose a game that virians can play where we try to spot
> >"The base memes" by labeling an idea as meme or composite. In order to
> >label something as composite it must be composed of other memes or
> >composites. So if you see an lawn ornament with Santa's sleigh I would
> >contend it was a composite of: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Other
> >Reindeer, & Santa.
>
> I'm not sure what the difference is between a meme and a composite
> given your examples. Isn't everything you named above a composite?
>
> When I think of a meme, I don't see it "composed" of other memes. Rather
> I see it linked to others. For example, Santa is linked to Xmas, presents,
> jolly, shopping malls, Coca-cola, north pole, elves, Rudolph, St. Nick,
> egg nog & cookies, and thousands of other memes in my mind. The
> interesting
> thing is that if you take away all the links, there is nothing left...
>
> --
> David McFadzean david@lucifer.com
> Memetic Engineer http://www.lucifer.com/~david/
> Church of Virus http://www.lucifer.com/virus/