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Memes in Court





Suppose one day memetics became a legitemate field of science, picture 
the following scenario:

A 28 years old male Caucasian American, let's call him X, is on trial 
for having very brutally raped and murdered 18 young females. The 
physical evidence are indisputable for at least three of the murders. 
Such a trial normally ends with a conviction, either life in prison or 
the death penalty. But there are a few things that makes this trial 
unusual. Very unusual. The defense uses a strategy that has never been 
tried in any court room before: they are setting out to prove that their
client acted as he did because he was ill, infected by a killer meme. In
other words, they are going for temporal insanity. It's a case that's 
bound to hit the front pages of every national newspaper.
	And quite right, soon everybody is talking about the killer
meme. The case is actually going quite well. Not only is the defense
able to show that X was an honourable citizen prior to his killing.
They also portrey him as a kind man with harmonic childhood, the
loving, conscienscious father of three children including a teenage
daughter, and as a dedicated husband. Witness after witness testify that
the X they know couldn't even hurt a fly. 
	Then something unexpected happens: the sheriff of the small town
of Rome, Wisconsin reports a severely brutal murder of a 17 year old
girl. The murder shows the characteristic features of X's work. The 
very same day the Chicago police department reports a similar murder.
The next day 3 more murders of the same kind are reported. When the
media realizes that they are dealing with a wave of homicides panic
breaks loose: The killer meme is spreading! As much as 11 killer meme 
homicides are reported daily. Then comes surprise number two: among the
victims some deviations start popping up. Some of the victims are
males, others are females in their 30's. Some are being strangled,
others stabbed and others still are shot to death: the killer meme has
started to mutate.



Onar.



  
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