>Thank you and you are welcome.[TN]
I second the opinion; this post is one of your best, IMHO.
<Snip backquotes, side discussion>
>We know memes or ideas or concepts exist and are transmitted in some
ways
>from one person to another. Can we claim that because of this knowledge
we
>know how to live? <
I would hold that we do not.
>It's good to know the techniques of manipulation and
>*how* ideas influence people, but it does not answer any of the
>philosophical and psychological questions.<
Which particular ones did you have in mind?
>The fact that I know math does not make me an expert in any field which
uses
>numbers. The knowledge of math may by necessary in that field, but it
is
>*not enough*. The knowledge about how to brainwash people is not an
answer to >their questions -- it is a good way of controlling them.
OK so far.
>A notion that you know how to live because you know how to program
peoples' >minds seems to be highly immoral to me.<
I missed something somewhere. Who claimed this?
In some previous posts I questioned what method [mechanics, if you will]
could be used in memetic engineering to create and test antibody memes
for toxic meme complexes. Nowhere did I suggest that I should be placed
in charge of identifying which meme-complexes were toxic, or who should
be experimented upon, or how.
Those people exist today who create memes, some of which are toxic; the
Bosnian conflict appears to me to be a product of such memetic
engineering by one group. If you do NOT engage in memetic engineering to
counter such toxic meme-complexes, are you not also an accomplice in
their success?
>In marketing, appearance is often more important than the product.
Anything
>can be sold if wrapped properly -- unless you learn how to concentrate
on
>the product and not on the cover. Any useless idea can be defended for
a
>long time with proper manipulation techniques -- unless you learn the
>techniques and recognize them.<
Not only useless ideas, but those hostile to the continued existence and
growth of a different population can be "defended" or spread; this may
explain some of Richard's reluctance to discuss the 4 P's. Since the
Internet is global, is it possible that some future nightmare may be
prevented thereby?
>My favourite example .... Nathaniel Branden's books answer many
questions >about how to live a better life. An excellent tool ...
Another required reading assignment. I shall go bankrupt at the
bookstore...
Thank you for an excellent post.
james