On Memes and Mysterons
Moderator: Spectrum Strike Force
In this view of the world then, it could be argued that memes constitute the primary life-form on the planet, with biological organisms being reduced to the status of hosts. Mankind can be regarded as a host that is particularly well suited to the role in view of his enhanced capability for the communication of information from one host to another. (So... is it merely a coincidence that mankind is also to our knowledge the only species on the planet to possess what we would describe as a "soul"? Or is the bio-memetic interface within our physical forms what the "soul" really is?)
But enough of the heavy stuff. If you were looking for an entity that forms the essence of the Mysteron consciousness, I'd suggest that memes would have to rank pretty high on the list of candidates. Captain Black became the unwilling host for the Mysteron memes forcibly imprinted upon his consciousness, which he then unwittingly carried back to Earth aboard the Zero-X, providing the Mysterons with a focal point from which to commence their infiltration of the Terran memesphere, i.e. the entire collective memeplex native to the planet Earth. The Mysteron threat to "destroy all life on Earth" has - perhaps understandably - been misinterpreted by Spectrum to mean that the Mysterons intend to destroy all biological life. But I'd contend that isn't what the Mysterons mean at all: by "life", they are referring to the Terran memesphere - which they ultimately intend to extinguish. Their enemy is not the human species, which they probably regard merely as something akin to cattle to be slaughtered at will, but the human soul; the logic being that if you can destroy that, you eradicate the mechanism by which the Terran memesphere threatens the Mysterons' own survival.
Oh - and Merry Christmas, everybody!
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memesphere
Richard Dawkins, "The Selfish Gene", 11. Memes: the new replicators, Oxford University, 1976;
Second edition, December 1989, ISBN 0-19-217773-7;
April 1992, ISBN 0-19-857519-X;
Trade paperback, September 1990, ISBN 0-19-286092-5
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Clya Brown
- Cloudbase Captain
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Ah, yes - memes! I am a huge fan of Richard Dawkins and although I haven't yet read the Selfish Gene, Dawkins goes into the 'meme idea' quite throughly in The God Delusion. I rather like this idea of a Mysteron meme, though I'm not sure it could be applied to a machine intelligence as opposed to a sentient being - and I do happen to think the Mysterons are a machine intelligence. So, again, yes, it really does make a difference exactly what it is you might believe a Mysteron to be.
Perhaps for a digital intelligence, the word 'program' could be substituted - and this is something I've said before that certainly sounds like it might fit - here's two partial cut and pastes: (full discussion found under Origins of the Mysterons thread, for any inquiring minds)
Humans really do confuse them - for the Mysterons have not yet connected with the concept that human minds operate ‘individually’ - as a collective, Individual just isn’t in their dictionary. Much of human experience is ‘common’, and the Mysterons misinterpret that as the ‘main program’ for the species. They may recognize separate thinking but don’t realize that it’s independent thinking
and (from further on in the same discussion)
It’s not a perfect comparison, but to the Mysterons, that’s rather what things look like on planet Earth - that we all operate as separate, independent entities (imagine 6 billion plus programs interacting) just doesn’t enter their machine-driven imaginations
I will definitely give this meme analogy a bit more thought...excellent point for discussion!
Doc Denim
PS - I have also read Dawkins book Unweaving the Rainbow, and an currently halfway through The Ancestor's Tale - both very Siobhan approved books!
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Doc Denim
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