Douglas Hofstadter wrote a monthly column in Scientific American back in the early 80s called, Metamagical Themas. Many of the columns looked at these issues. These articles were expanded and collected in a volume of the same name.
I had read most of the existing literature on memetics when I created this diagram ten years ago. it synthesizes a bunch of different sources which I unfortunately don't have at hand anymore. but you may find it useful
“Traditional: in my head, I use this word to mean something that basically no one else ever means when they use the word “traditional,” but it’s a concept that’s helpful for me and I need a word for.”
I'm immediately annoyed I didn't write this, and that I don't know where to find more writing on this. Great connection to the writing workshops, I'm gonna be searching for where else I've read these sorts of things, memetics seems like it's "in the water", but I don't remember reading much explicitly about the environments
While looking up posts on this topic on ribbonfarm, I found this other post by Sarah Perry which seems interesting. Really anything with the keyword of 'egregore' may be at least adjacent to what you're talking about. https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2015/05/07/weaponized-sacredness/
This seemed very cool, and I considered buying it, but when trying to look up anything anybody's ever written on it, I couldn't find anything. Looking further at the author, I found that he's written 30+ books on disparate topics, some self-help, some not. Anyway, did you read this book and enjoy it? Did the author put his work in some more trustworthy medium, like a blog? Thanks
Douglas Hofstadter wrote a monthly column in Scientific American back in the early 80s called, Metamagical Themas. Many of the columns looked at these issues. These articles were expanded and collected in a volume of the same name.
I had read most of the existing literature on memetics when I created this diagram ten years ago. it synthesizes a bunch of different sources which I unfortunately don't have at hand anymore. but you may find it useful
https://x.com/deepfates/status/1630609295225266176
real
“Traditional: in my head, I use this word to mean something that basically no one else ever means when they use the word “traditional,” but it’s a concept that’s helpful for me and I need a word for.”
Evolutionistx called these “mitochondrial memes”: https://evolutionistx.wordpress.com/2015/04/29/mitochondrial-memes-part-1/
oooh thanks!
Wake up babe, sympopp just posted stack
I'm immediately annoyed I didn't write this, and that I don't know where to find more writing on this. Great connection to the writing workshops, I'm gonna be searching for where else I've read these sorts of things, memetics seems like it's "in the water", but I don't remember reading much explicitly about the environments
i havent finished reading it yet but a twitter moot recommended this post! https://takingchildrenseriously.com/the-evolution-of-culture/
I also haven't finished reading the post you linked, but it seems interesting so far.
I tried searching for this topic in the archives of blogs I've read that are TPOT-ish, I found this post from samzdat.com, you might like it because it seems to place import on memorizing poems. https://samzdat.com/2017/03/22/memetics-and-memorization-a-critical-review-of-both/
That post in turn references a Sarah Perry post on ribbonfarm, which I believe I was able to track down as this: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2017/03/02/the-limits-of-epistemic-hygiene/
While looking up posts on this topic on ribbonfarm, I found this other post by Sarah Perry which seems interesting. Really anything with the keyword of 'egregore' may be at least adjacent to what you're talking about. https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2015/05/07/weaponized-sacredness/
I wrote a (bad, meandering) post loosely connected to the idea of the 'viral' environment a while ago, pondering what makes things spread on the internet, trying to connect it to emotions or something. https://theignorantschoolmaster.substack.com/p/what-gets-propagated-online
This was a fun exploration, thanks for spurring it!
Beyond Virality: Unraveling the Complexities of Memetic Evolution through Computational Science
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Virality-Unraveling-Complexities-Computational/dp/B0CFZFJC3B
This seemed very cool, and I considered buying it, but when trying to look up anything anybody's ever written on it, I couldn't find anything. Looking further at the author, I found that he's written 30+ books on disparate topics, some self-help, some not. Anyway, did you read this book and enjoy it? Did the author put his work in some more trustworthy medium, like a blog? Thanks
No, it's on my list to buy and read at some point, unfortunately I already have far too much to read.