[Toxic Memes] Memetics: rules, power, effectiveness etc.

vicky_molokh · 08-16-2011, 03:12 AM

Greetings, all!

In another discussion a poster mentioned that THS memetics is like mind control. I countered by making a real-world example political campaign - a rough approximation for launching 'Vote Putin!' (with -7 for not having memetic software, since psychology TL in Soviet/Post-Soviet space is perhaps as low as 7, and definitely no better than 8). Even when I assumed 2-year planning, and took away the -7 for no memetic program, the results were underwhelming compared to the real-world results (definitely not enough to get a majority vote, perhaps not even enough to get 25%, depending on roll and chosen level of % per MoS).

OTOH, I heard whswhs had a moment in a game where he found memetics to be extremely strong. But back then I didn't have the book to see and understand the mechanics behind the event.

I'd like to hear opinions on the game-mechanical/world-statistical effects of memetics, arguments why they are considered infallible mind control by some posters, perhaps any murphies etc.

Thanks in advance!

08-16-2011, 03:12 AM	#1
vicky_molokh GURPS FAQ Keeper Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Kyïv, Ukraine	[Toxic Memes] Memetics: rules, power, effectiveness etc. Greetings, all! In another discussion a poster mentioned that THS memetics is like mind control. I countered by making a real-world example political campaign - a rough approximation for launching 'Vote Putin!' (with -7 for not having memetic software, since psychology TL in Soviet/Post-Soviet space is perhaps as low as 7, and definitely no better than 8). Even when I assumed 2-year planning, and took away the -7 for no memetic program, the results were underwhelming compared to the real-world results (definitely not enough to get a majority vote, perhaps not even enough to get 25%, depending on roll and chosen level of % per MoS). OTOH, I heard whswhs had a moment in a game where he found memetics to be extremely strong. But back then I didn't have the book to see and understand the mechanics behind the event. I'd like to hear opinions on the game-mechanical/world-statistical effects of memetics, arguments why they are considered infallible mind control by some posters, perhaps any murphies etc. Thanks in advance! __________________ Vicky 'Molokh', GURPS FAQ and uFAQ Keeper Last edited by vicky_molokh; 09-01-2011 at 03:30 AM.