> The idea was that you could find evidence to support any
> claim if you look hard enough.
true enough! This falls back into what I said about circular "evidence"
earlier. If you think something long enough and hard enough (read
"faith") chances are you find proof to justify your belief. And, again,
from a memetic perspective it makes sense too:
In memetic theory, our minds are the *environment* in which memes evolve
and propagate. If you "culture" your mind to support memes related to
____ (say God), it does not surprise me to find that the memes which
survive in that environment tend to support <God>. They have *evolved*
to fit the niches you created in your mind.
> Having defeated the group by the fact that we had worked so hard to find
> evidence, we were left not knowing what was true at all. The question I
> have is what the primary motivational force to what people do. More
> exactly, I mean the original force that created the original memes.
A very nice question.
Nietzsche would answer "the will to power"... that is, peoples
unconscious desire (or will) for power over the environment or people
leads them to create and do *everything* in their lives.
But I beg to differ.
I think "The Journey to Meaning" is a better description, in our current
society.
I read somewhere that life is a pilgrimage to the intangible.
I think people do and think what they do becuase, in some way, that
gives a purpose (meaning) to their lives. That is, meme's and actions
arise out of people's unconscious desire to find Meaning. Life is then
best summed up as "The Journey to Meaning"
In the far past, that meaning would probably have been "to survive to
propagate". But it is different, now. Pick whatever meaning you like.
I'm sure that lots of supporting meme's will *flock* to your mind.
ERiC