Re: [ontolog-forum] Dennett on the Darwinism of Memes

[jmcclure@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

John S,

If you're saying "tax cuts generate growth" is a slogan not a meme, I disagree (as a 'slogan' is an abbreviation of a belief system). If you're saying that "tax cuts generate growth" is an idea as much a meme, then I tend to agree, but not completely. Both identify or imply an 'action' but an idea is an insight about an outcome SHOULD a certain action be performed, while a 'meme' is a statement of action derived-from/supportive-of a particualr outcome:

   idea = action --implies--> result --yields--> outcome

   meme = outcome --implies--> action --yields--> result

At the risk of sounding like a conspiracist, the 'god' meme is a good example of a meme because it PROCEEDED FROM the desire of a cabal to cement power among themselves, as arbiters of the essence of life itself. The 'god' meme wasn't developed to further the social goal of good nutrition. The 'god' meme is not at all about whether a higher entity exists, it is more about with whom that entity negotiates.

-john

On 12.04.2013 08:39, John F Sowa wrote:

> On 4/12/2013 10:14 AM, jmcclure@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxwrote:
> > A very well-known meme in the political sphere is that "tax cuts generate growth"
> I would call that a slogan, as in "campaign slogan".  As Ali noted,
> the only reason why it keeps getting bandied about is that the Koch
> Brothers fund hype machines (AKA think tanks) that promote it.
>
> That was my point.  The word 'meme' has no defining characteristics
> that distinguish it from 'idea' or from terms that express an idea,
> such as 'slogan'.
>
> John
>
>  
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