Viral marketing, going viral - Dawkins and Hofstadter

[Jonathan Lighter]

I don't see any disagreement in principle. I simply see no reason for
crediting Hofstadter and/or Dawkins in particular, since neither wrote about
"going viral" and it's been known for decades that viruses spread rapidly by
contact.

Apposite too is that for most people, "virus" seems to be a general synonym
for "any contagious illness."  So a "viral video" spreads like the common
cold (which, almost by coincidence in this case, actually is caused by
viruses).

JL

On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 11:44 AM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Poster:       victor steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Viral marketing, going viral - Dawkins and Hofstadter
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Not to make this a habit, but I disagree with Jon. I found instances of
> "viral mail" that had a distinctly negative connotation in the mid-80s.
> Specifically, it referred to a chain reaction of unprotected looping email
> that served to implode mail servers. Specifically, the idea was that "bad
> mail" was spreading like a virus. This is not the same connotation we have
> for "viral email" or "viral video" today, where there is no opprobrium
> attached--merely the idea that something is popular and the interest is
> contagious. It's almost ironic that this sense of "viral" is juxtaposed to
> "computer viruses". Perhaps this is the reason we still call the software
> "antivirus", but now talk about the more inclusive "malware" as the culprit
> to be eradicated.
>
> Although I disagree with Jon on specifics (and support Garson's hypothesis
> as plausible, although by no means proven), I agree with him in principle.
> To his "spread like a virus" I would also add William S. Burroughs's
> "Language is a virus" (The Ticket that Exploded, 1962), which was also used
> by Laurie Anderson as a theme and a title for a song from 1984 (released as
> a single in 1986). In fact, I would not discount the possibility that
> Burroughs might have had influence on Hofstadter and on subsequent
> terminology (main theme of TtT is technology-based social revolution).
>
>
> VS-)
>
> PS: Also note that "viral mail" is a concept in biochemistry of viruses.
> PPS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZkjoXyexKk
>
> In particular, note the screen in the background flashing the X-words (A
> game, B flick, C note, etc.). Has anyone compiled a full list of these?
> (And
> I don't mean those containing "word" in them, such as "N-word" or
> "C-word").
>
> On Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 10:34 AM, Jonathan Lighter
> <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >
> > I doubt if Hofstadter and Dawkins had much to do with it.  GB has exx.of
> > "spread like a virus" back to the early 1950s.
> >
> > JL
>
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