>The thing is, many "immune systems" are different -- i.e. Objectivism as
>opposed to, say, Catholicism. I'm not sure there's a memetic AIDS capable
>of affecting the devout Catholic and the devout Wiccan in the same breath,
>as it were.
I'm not so sure. I tend to see this from a different angle. The meme-
complexes you mention may use different methods of protecting themselves
(and combinations of methods) but I think you'll find a lot of
commonality when you look at the basic elements. To take a simple
example; intolerance. It confers an immunity to the complex which uses
it but it is used by more than one complex. Identify all the base
elements and you'll be a step closer to constructing something which can
break them down, regardless of what complexes happen to be using them.
You will also be a step closer to constructing an 'immunity-complex'
which can withstand heavy assault and which is independant of the
complexes hidden behind it. To answer another part of your question; I
don't think there is an 'ultimate' version of either the immunity-
complex or the AIDS meme. I'd see it as a kind of arms race with each
side striving to build bigger guns than the other one. But then isn't
that what politics and advertising are all about?
-- Martz martz@martz.demon.co.ukFor my public key, <mailto:m.traynor@ic.ac.uk> with 'Send public key' as subject an automated reply will follow.
No more random quotes.