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Multipart Memetic Assault
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A subset of multipart memes. A (typically virulent) meme that is dispersed as multiple relatively harmless memes which only become virulent when they're brought into conjunction within a sophont's mind.

The classic example is the late 21st century c.e. pro-public service memeset a large government attempted to apply to their citizens. This was crafted by a increase in news promulgation regarding the satisfaction public servants felt when things went well (when things didn't go well was deliberately not asked of the sophont-in-the-street, nor were the questions broadcast, just the answers), much loud political wrangling about getting public servants more recompense (when they were done, the public servants were still at approximately 50%-75% of the wage of private-sector jobs), an increase in uniform fetishism engendered via the fashion sector, changes in legislation making it easier for immediate family members of public servants to remain on the public assistance (and concurrently, harder for those without any such family member), and so on. All in all, some 500 factors all contributed to this classical memeset.

A more modern example is significantly less baseline-comprehensible, but involved a specific fragrance of hot electronics inserted into popular virches in high-stress high-reward circumstances, a subtle change in texture to the controls of the device in question to more closely mimic human skin response and a self-slanderous word-of-mouth campaign aimed at showing off the unit's strong points as 'weaknesses'. Other critical but seemingly less-related phenomena, such as specific hairstyles worn by certain sex symbols and commentators, the color of carpeting in some system-wide food chains, and several hundred others.
 
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Development Notes
Text by John B
Initially published on 16 February 2003.

 
 
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