The Simplest Path

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Author	Topic: The Simplest Path
Ceylon Warrior Member # 4638	written Friday, June 1 2007 12:11 Profile #50 The ideas are not completely novel, nor does the author claim them to be. They are based, at least in part, on the classical teachings of ways to achieve enlightenment (the traditions of Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, etc.) Whatever you think the effect of the meme "original sin" is, it does skew one's perception of the world. -------------------- You are asleep. Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be. So it goes. Posts: 93 \| Registered: Tuesday, June 29 2004 07:00
Stillness Lifecrafter Member # 7723	written Friday, June 1 2007 12:45 Profile #51 OK. I guess I thought you were going to tell us what was unique about the book. All of our ideas by definition contribute to our view. Reading this book, for example, effected you to such an extent that you created a thread to tell us about it. Why? Posts: 701 \| Registered: Thursday, November 30 2006 08:00
Kelandon Off With Their Heads Member # 4045	written Friday, June 1 2007 12:55 Profile Homepage #52 The reason people are asking you what the heck a meme is is that it's pretty hard to free yourself from memes if you can't even figure out what they are. Your dark room analogy doesn't really work here. You've so far posed a positive test case (so to speak), an idea that definitely is a meme. It would be useful to answer Diki's question, though, to explain the negative case: an idea that is not a meme, or perhaps a meme from which one does not need to be freed, or perhaps a meme from which one is freed but one nonetheless obeys (and how this makes sense?), or whatever your response actually is to it. [ Friday, June 01, 2007 13:00: Message edited by: Kelandon ] -------------------- Arancaytar: Every time you ask people to compare TM and Kel, you endanger the poor, fluffy kittens. Smoo: Get ready to face the walls! Ephesos: In conclusion, yarr. Kelandon's Pink and Pretty Page!!: the authorized location for all things by me The Archive of all released BoE scenarios ever Posts: 7968 \| Registered: Saturday, February 28 2004 08:00
Or else o'erleap. Law Bringer Member # 335	written Friday, June 1 2007 13:48 Profile Homepage #53 I'll throw two cents onto the pile. Meme and gene come from a completely different etymological roots. The former is meant to evoke the latter, but it's not actually derived from it. For distinguishing between memes and non-meme ideas, I think I'm with the herd. There's no good non-arbitrary distinction I can come up with, and unless the book articulates one it's useless. I'm also not so convinced that memes intend to self-perpetuate. I think rather we use meme as a label for ideas that propogate well. Original sin (and all of Christianity) is one. So are some very basic rules of morality (don't punch a stranger in the face). Except for the former arguably being bad and the latter arguably being good, I can't see the difference. —Alorael, who thinks real viral memes are rare. Buscard's Murrain is the one that comes to mind. Posts: 14579 \| Registered: Saturday, December 1 2001 08:00
Student of Trinity Electric Sheep One Member # 3431	written Friday, June 1 2007 14:13 Profile #54 Fritz Leiber had a story "Rump-Titty-Titty-Tum-TAH-Tee" which was about some similarly addictive pattern. Interestingly, the pattern could be realized in many media, as written text, spoken words, paint splatters, or even a sequence of chess moves. Fortunately, there was another pattern that served as an antidote to the first. EDIT: Hey, apparently there is an endorsement from Mr. Dawkins for earworms as memes. From Wikipedia: quote: Richard Dawkins, in his book Unweaving the Rainbow, cited the jingle of A Literary Nightmare [story by Mark Twain about a silly poem that got stuck in his head] as an excellent example of a meme - in this case, a "ridiculous fragment of versified instruction." The poem, through its catchy rhyme and rhythm, managed to convey itself from mind to mind, and in most cases inhabited the mind of the victims for several days. [ Friday, June 01, 2007 14:21: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 \| Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00
Thuryl ...b10010b... Member # 869	written Friday, June 1 2007 23:53 Profile Homepage #55 quote: Originally written by Upon Fire: For distinguishing between memes and non-meme ideas, I think I'm with the herd. There's no good non-arbitrary distinction I can come up with, and unless the book articulates one it's useless. I'm also not so convinced that memes intend to self-perpetuate. I think rather we use meme as a label for ideas that propogate well. Dawkins would say that ideas that fail to propagate themselves are still memes, just not very successful memes, in the same way that a lethal gene is still a gene. -------------------- The Empire Always Loses: This Time For Sure! Posts: 9973 \| Registered: Saturday, March 30 2002 08:00
Micawber Agent Member # 2759	written Saturday, June 2 2007 11:24 Profile Homepage #56 quote: Originally written by Bandit Keith: Now, the math for imaginary numbers, in addition to not accomplishing anything, is based off of equations that ultimately loop around back to the beginning with no viable input other than its own equations. I know I'm late on the scene, but I just read this, and I gotta say, it really made me laugh very hard indeed. And in a topic named "the simplest path" too; the irony is just too much. I have no wish to reignite the debate, so I won't say any more. [ Saturday, June 02, 2007 11:25: Message edited by: Micawber ] -------------------- "I can't read this thread with that image. But then, that's not a complaint." -Scorpius Geneforge 4 stuff. Also, everything I know about Avernum \| Avernum 2 \| Avernum 3 \| Avernum 4 Posts: 1104 \| Registered: Monday, March 10 2003 08:00
Student of Trinity Electric Sheep One Member # 3431	written Sunday, June 3 2007 11:15 Profile #57 We know, we know. It's all fun and games, until somebody loses an i. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 \| Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00