(original recording made in 1998)
Aaron Lynch was an engineering physicist specializing in the study of memetics. In 1984 he had finished his first draft of what would become this book "Thought Contagion." It came out in hardcover in 1996. In November of 1998 when it was issued in paperback he appeared as a guest on the show. Lynch had been prescient; by predicting that the internet which was in a fledgling state at the time, would become a virulent incubator of memes, conspiracy theories, and contagious thoughts. This was his only book. He would have been gratified to know that after we rebroadcast this program my email box filled up with messages from listeners: wow, that guy was right! and how do I get that book?
He was certainly right about memes on the internet. And 25 years later his book is still in print. Aaron Lynch died in 2005 from an accidental overdose of opioids. He was only 47 years old.
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