::scr clue

[Alex Robinson]

> beyond this in Phaedrus and in Republic). Basically, froom what I
> understood, memesis was a devaluation of a philosophical concept by
> describing it in words (I'm very probably wrong. Most of my knowledge of
> this comes from the notes in other books) - Plato felt that mimesis was
> wholly without merit. As opposed to the ideal form of human interaction
> - dialectical discourse (dialektike techne [0]).


Well blagged Simon. Yes, it was something along those lines that I 
recall mimesis.
Of course, Martin, probably correctly, proposes a different and more 
pertinent
definition.


> which is essentially describing a virus (in the biological sense). Which
> is a remarkably good description ... the meme exists only to replicate.
> To do so it must not destroy its host (by making it so dull at parties
> that no-one will speak to it, I suppose) and must be passed via a vector
> (email, word of mouth) to another host. And the cycle begins again.

Destroying its host is neither here nor there. It just must not destroy 
them so fast
that the meme/virus has nowhere to go. And as with viruses, the death of 
a meme's host
can be the very act that enables its propagation. The Assassins, 
Kamikaze pilots,
suicide bombers...