Re: MEMETICS: Humor (was The Good, the Bad and the Ugly)

Sunah.Caroline.Cherwin@pobox.com
Thu, 23 Jan 1997 18:21:51 -0800


>I suggest that <EM>humor, like inoculation, generates anti-memes</EM>.
> Though the exact causal mechanism remains unclear (as do the causes of humor
>itself) I theorize that making a meme the butt of jokes transmits it in
>enfeebled form. Just as inoculations prepare our immune systems for
>potentially worse things, silliness can introduce a meme while simultaneously
>stripping it of authority.
>
>(Heh. Get it, Sunah.Caroline.Cherwin?)

sure. That's silliness. This other person and I were discussing the
potential of jokes to introduce new perspective, not scary stuff in a
weakened form, just new stuff in a new form. Humor is good in lots of ways,
sweetie.

--
Sunah.Caroline.Cherwin@pobox.com   - + -   http://www.slip.net/~suzy/demo/