Selections From a Memetic Lexicon

Auto-toxic Dangerous to itself. Highly auto-toxic memes are usually self-limiting because they promote the destruction of their hosts (such as the Jim Jones meme; any military indoctrination meme-complex; any "martyrdom" meme). (GMG) (See exo-toxic.) bait The part of a meme-complex that promises to benefit the host (usually in return for replicating the complex). The bait usually justifies, but does not explicitly urge, the replication of a meme-complex. (Donald Going, quoted by Hofstadte...

 Meme Strategies for Replicating into Minds

In addition to the survival-oriented memes that are still with us, there are some more types of memes that don't seem to particularly help or hurt our survival, but by their very nature are fit to spread effectively-these are memes that are fit simply because they are variations on the idea Spread this meme: - Tradition. A strategy-meme to continue what was done or believed in the past is automatically self-perpetuating. It doesn't matter whether the tradition is good or bad, important or ir...

 Means of Penetration for Memes

We looked at three methods of penetration: repetition, cognitive dissonance, and the Trojan horse. When a virus of the mind infects you, it may resemble one of these scenarios: - Repetition. Repeating a meme until it becomes familiar and part of your programming is one method of mind-virus penetration: • Hearing a similar message repeatedly on television news, commercials, talk radio, and so on • Being in a group or organization where, for instance, a charter is read or an oath is taken a...

 Not All Thoughts are Memes

Where do new memes come from? They come about through variation and combination of old ones - either inside one person's mind, or when memes are passed from person to person. So, for example, the poodle story is concocted out of language that people already know and ideas they already have, put together in new ways. They then remember it and pass it on, and variations occur in the process. And the same is true of inventions, songs, works of art, and scientific theories. The human mind is a r...