MD Fw: Article, A Solipsistic View on Memetics/ Part 1

From: Kenneth Van Oost (Kenneth.Van.Oost@village.uunet.be)
Date: Sat Oct 28 2000 - 20:56:03 BST


  Part 1

  We all do understand memes to represent units of information passed on in
  some form of communication between two or more organisms/ brains.
  We comprehend memes as intentions, fears, emotions, beliefs, suppositions,
  aspirations,...as they are found in language, ideologies, theories and religions.
  We do also understand that a Self, that the I, of whom I think I am the one who
  reflects those memes.

  It is I who likes the icecream, it is I who wants to be a billionaire, it is I who is
  aware (of some parts) of my memes and it is I who is trying to write this.
  This I is the heart of the Self(plex), I work to defend it, to promote it, even I
  think hard about it to understand it better. Is that is the case then ' my '
  memes will/ may strive and succeed where others fail, and that Self(plex) of mine
  will grow. ( Idit Susan Blackmore/ Memes, Myself and I)

  Once the 'Self ' has begun to grow, it can begin in trying to propagate itself.
  It does that throughout the memetic concept that every time it comes across
  an ' idea ' ( more considered as definition, belief, action, detail, connotion, as
  aniother context/ content, interpretation_idit Robert Clewley) it will meet it
  with the notion ' I like that ' or ' I don 't want that '.
  This ' selfish behaviour ' of the memeplex ' Self ' makes one thing crystal
  clear_the little ' me ' inside me is an illusion, it is a memeplex of sensa-
  tions, activity and consciousness of which I think it lives my life and makes
  up my decisions.

  So rather than being a permanent, persisting entity, the Self may be more
  like a story about a Self that does not really exist. But is that true !?
  Can we believe those ideas !?
  We all have the notion of an ' Inner self ', it is Me who walks around in the
  park, it is me who hears the birds sing, it is me feeling the breeze...it is me
  who touches the trees, it is me who takes everything at a glance...or is it
  only a projection of the mind_a projection of something from ' in here ' to
  ' out there ' !?
  In other words, can it be that memetics in general and our truly knowable
  selfish memes are nothing more than a creation by themselves !?

  If memes, as we hypothesise are selfish (they are unrelenting) and they
  created the world in the way as we know it today ( including the first memes
  for the very first genes) haven ' t they then not created the world in a solip-
  sistic way !?
  After all, are they then not egoistic, in some sense moral self- interested
  primary in their doing and being !?
  Memes act in such a way, so what is the point !?

  The point is if we think about memes in memetic theories we attribute them
  a collectiviness, a subjective over all else, a sameness. We tend to homogenise
  the nature of memes without the analysis in depth of what is regarded as the
  true primacy of individual (private) ideas.
  What we ' know ' ( as a human individual), as the ' me ' who experiences this
  life) are all the perceived objects and events which are merely the products
   of ' our ' personal consciousness and in fact we can suppose that this con-
  sciousness alone is genuinely real and that nothing beyond this conscious-
  ness exists.
  For all I know:- I know ( I belief) I do exist, and only this ' Self ' exist and only
  this ' Self ' can be known to exist only as a result of my experiences and
  beliefs, only by itself...by Me !!

  In principle, existence then means for me ' my ' existence and that of
  ' my ' mental states due to the fact that ' my ' memes interact and make
  up a solipsistic world out there where they can propagate themselves.
  A strong argument for such a suggestion is provided in the hypothesis
  that the brain generates reality from information which comes in thru ' the
  eyes and in order to make up an accurate map of what ' my ' reality is,
  the brain fills up the gaps with imagination.
  The reality out there is (partly) an optional extra. What counts is what
  is happening inside the brain and what happens there in complety personal.
  In a sense the brain secretes its own private ' reality ' wherein ' me ', who
  experiences this ' reality ' is somewhat a convergepoint/ a host whereby
  info/ memes are/ is perceived, gets transformed and is/ are send ' back
  out ' again.

                                         End of part One

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