Thank you very much for the fascinating links on memes! I found the definition of memes as self-propagating ideas very interesting and convincing, but I'm quite disturbed by the urge to use it to explain away free will. Can't you also argue that the individual has the capacity to choose which memes to believe in and transmit, or that competing memes will ensure diversity and prevent any one set of ideas from totally dominating? Why is it that biological determinism seems to be a staple belief of modern science ("genetics is destiny"), and nobody remembers that there's always an interplay between biology, individuals, and society?

Working in science has made me a lot more skeptical of scientific theories and claims. It's not that I don't believe in the scientific data, it's just that too often bad science is used to prop up social mores, because the biases of the researchers are making them ask the wrong questions and skew the results. The assumption that there must be something abnormal to make people gay and the consequent search for the gay gene would be a classic example.

Sorry for the long rant in your journal, and thanks again for the links!

I love your idea of a fandom dictionary with all the etymological roots (and I don't even like semiotics that much).

Sorry to hear about your cat. I hope that she gets better soon.