. . .Im sure youll be needing a new fixation . . and being the helpful type, I thought I'd offer this little gem from the BBC.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_318000/318969.stm

By BBC News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse Astronomers have discovered a mile-wide asteroid that could collide with the Earth in 40 years time.

If it did, the devastation would be continent-wide, with massive global effects for decades. Hundreds of millions of people would die and many animal species would be wiped out.

The object is called asteroid 1999 AN10 and it was discovered on 13 January. It was picked up by the Linear telescopic survey that scans the sky for so-called Neo's - Near Earth Objects.

1999 AN10 circles the Sun every 643 days and twice each year the Earth comes close to the giant rock.

From almost a hundred observations made of it since its discovery, astronomers have determined its orbit. Close approaches to Earth occur in 2027, but no impacts are possible then according to Andrea Milani and Steven Chesley of the University of Pisa.

But 2039 is a different matter....

There, now you can all un-sleep un-peacefully again. "We" (actually "you" . . but I'm trying to build empathy here) . . can now fixate about Y2.039K !!!

Youre welcome.

-- DGI (helpful@memebusters.org), April 15, 1999

Answers

Thanks, Doomslayer, or Mutha, whoev-a.

So that's why we're spending so much time & money on Mars exploration.

Is it rather difficult to create an atmosphere out of thin non-air? groan groan

-- Lisa (lisa@work.now), April 15, 1999.

one of the really funny things about the y2k kids and their 'meme' fixation is that they're too young and inexperienced to realize that cybernetic theory is just an adaptation of the psychological theory of behaviorism...which flopped as a theory and proved both totally unworkable and entirely facistic in it's final forms.

assignment for the y2k kids:

Read the following books by B.F. Skinner:

- BEYOND FREEDOM AND DIGNITY

- WALDEN 2

note the exact parallels between Skinner's applications of behaviorist theory and your attempts to apply cybernetic theory. Note the facist nature of the end result. Note the total failure of Skinner's predictions concerning modern society.

Behaviorism does not work, not even when shrouded in pseudotechnological jargon a la cybernetics/psychocybernetics.

you will have no written exam on this one - the test is the rest your life.

Arlin Adams

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), April 15, 1999.

er . . dang and blast . .

throw a couple of (snip) (end snip) or {snip} {end snip} thingys in there willya. Just for the sake of netiquette. Seems html brackets disappear stuff in this here textarea (sic). Well how was I to know that . . .

As you were.

-- DGI (helpful@memebusters.org), April 15, 1999.

OK, folks, dying to know... what exactly is "meme", anyway??

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), April 15, 1999.

Brooks . .

helpful is as helpful does . .

Its all here . .

http://www.mcs.net/~aaron/tmc.htm

Youre welcome (again)

-- DGI (helpful@memebusters.org), April 15, 1999.

Gleaned from Internet search on meme:

"a "meme" is a cultural idea which propagates from one host (a brain) to others, somewhat like a biological or computer virus. It is a self-replicating information pattern, and in some ways can be analogized on the cultural level with genes on the biological level. The term and concept (a meme in its own right) was coined by biologist Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene."

For more information also search Systems Theory, Systems Thinking, Whole Systems, replicative systems. There are many nay-sayers to the notion of 'memes'. There are also nobel laureates who think the idea remains in the ballpark in understanding complex systems, and system replication. The word is much ill-used, and misquoted. Somehow or other 'believers' in the more traditional have associated 'memes' with 'new age' ideas. You must be the judge.

-- Donna Barthuley (moment@pacbell.net), April 15, 1999.

Thanks all. (Guess I'll have to add vaccination against cultural viruses to my Y2K medical checkup list.)

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), April 15, 1999.

Meme is a fancy way of saying Y2k is an Urban Legend, Brooks. It's a way for hard-core skeptics to sound official when they want to accuse someone of spreading unsubstantiated rumors. It also gives 'optimists' a way to ignore actual bad news about Y2k -- they say bad news is merely 'cut and paste' by 'meme-infected doomers.'

Some of the most unsettling information about Y2k though comes from Congressional testimony. It isn't just Gary North.

Optimists have their own 'memes' too. They wanted so badly to believe that Dr. Edward Yardeni had lowered his estimates of a Y2k-induced recession from 70% to 45% when in fact he hadn't.

-- (memo@memory.org), April 15, 1999.

memo: second that. many optimists couch their anti-memeiness within false concern for people who over-prepare, when in reality, what the optimists fear are bank runs.

some optimists also attempt to persuade pessimists to convert to the optimist meme. blatantly.

many optimists belong to warrior tribes who don't take prisoners and proudly display "scalps" from pessimists for all to admire.

studying optimists is both depressing and alarming.

-- Lisa (lisa@work.now), April 15, 1999.

Forget that -- the prophet interpreters and mind travellers (Ed Dames, et al) say that something big is coming end of June or end of July (I forget which -- machs nicht) this year. Do your survival supplies include two of everything? :-)

-- A (A@AisA.com), April 15, 1999.

Well, here's something to chew on:

the prophet interpreters and mind travellers (Ed Dames, et al) say that something big is coming end of June or end of July (I forget which -- machs nicht) this year.

The bank runs have started, the Dow is collapsing as I write, everyone's freaking out and buying duct tape and toilet paper by the truckload... what? They're not? Gee, what happened? Where are all the failures? Surely "they" can't cover up all the problems we're supposed to be having!

And I'm sure that when nothing happens at the end of June/July (whatever), you'll just go on believing.

-- Dirt Road (got.it@got.over.it), April 15, 1999.

Just add cosmic disaster watch to your favorites and get back to stacking water barrels...

-- Blue Himalayan (bh@k2.y), April 15, 1999.

OOOOH! So many subjects to research, so little time. How about the new solar system found with 3 planets rotating around it? I kid you not. You heard it here first.

And, I don't want to hear your "I don't give a damn" comments.

-- I luv planets (luvy@solar.com), April 15, 1999.