Memetics

"Fire and swords are slow engines of destruction, compared to the tongue of a Gossip."
Richard Steele

Fire and swords are slow engines of destruction, compared to the tongue of a Gossip.

Memetics is a branch of pseudo-science that states that an idea, piece of gossip or 'meme' can act as a resilient parasite or virus and supposedly circulate from person to person. This depends on the content of the gossip - the 'juicier' a meme is the faster it may circulate. I think visualising a system of society that involves memetics is very interesting - thinking of gossip as a sort of living creature really puts it into perspective of what it actually is.

When we view gossip as a metaphysical being we can start to realise it acts like a virus or simple life in some ways:
-Some ideas can intertwine and support each other through various means which form a symbiotic relationship, this can be called a meme-complex or a memeplex and an example could be a religion.
-Some thoughts are purposely forced into peoples heads e.g propaganda, cult suicides etc. These can be thought of as a harmful virus and are referred to as a 'memeoid'. The idea of this is to get people to recognise thoughts such as this can be passed on (or contagious in a way) and can cause harm - more people should be aware of these 'mental' viruses rather than just the physical kind.

Even though some aspects of memetics can cause harm to people (memeoids), I think gossip must play a role in our society as it helps us to evolve and flourish. We are the only animals that can communicate in such an advanced way which we often take for granted so I think memetics often sheds light on our gift of language.

Bit of a short post but thanks for reading, Chris.