http://www.metafilter.com/tags/chainletters Posts tagged with 'chainletters' at MetaFilter. Sun, 07 Nov 2004 21:09:15 -0800 Sun, 07 Nov 2004 21:09:15 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://www.metafilter.com/36818/Chain%2DLetters%2Din%2DHistory%2Dand%2DThe%2DPaper%2DChain%2DLetter%2DArchive <a href="http://www.silcom.com/~barnowl/chain-letter/evolution.html#p2luck_chain_letters" title="Many ancient texts survive which provide diagrams, incantations or prayers that claim to benefit those who learn them. Some come close to our definition of a chain letter by urging that a personal copy be made. The Ancient Egyptian ''Book of that which is in the Underworld'' states (of a picture it provides): The man who shall make a picture of the things which are to the north of the hidden house of the Tuat shall find it of great benefit to him both in heaven and on earth; and he who knows it shall be among the spirits near Ra, and he who recites the words of Isis and Ser shall repulse Apep in Amentet, and he shall have a place on the boat of Ra both in heaven and upon earth. The man who knows not this picture shall never be able to repulse the serpent Neha-hra. (Budge) Some Buddhists Sutras promised good fortune or spiritual merit for reproducing the text. This spurred innovations in printing technology in Asia.">Luck Chain Letters</a> <small>Predecessors: Ancient documents that advocate their own perpetuation. The Letters from Heaven. Transitions to chain letters.</small>--from <a href="http://www.silcom.com/~barnowl/chain-letter/evolution.html" title="Billions of paper chain letters circulated in the 20th century. Using a sample of over 525 dated letters, predominant types are identified and analyzed for their replicative advantage. The major emphasis is on traditional English language luck chain letters. After thousands of generations, these accumulated remarkable methods of getting themselves copied. Complementary testimonials developed, one exploiting perceived bad luck, another exploiting perceived good luck. Some letters could appear Catholic to Catholics and Protestant to Protestants. Key events in chain letter history are examined in detail, including the puzzling origin of money chain letters. A reconstruction of uncollected intermediate forms suggests that around 1932 a luck chain letter actually brought unexpected money in the mail to some who lived in small towns. In 1935 the first money chain letter appeared, the infamous ''Send-a-Dime,'' which was copied over a billion times within a few months. Newly discovered sources are used to argue that the unknown author of Send-a-Dime was a Denver woman motivated by charity.">Chain Letter Evolution</a>, which is part of the <a href="http://www.silcom.com/%7Ebarnowl/chain-letter/archive/%21information.htm" title="This is the information page for the Paper Chain Letter Archive (PCLA), originated and currently maintained by Daniel W. VanArsdale. Chain letters may be used to study social replication and abstract evolution. For example, any general procedure which attempts to establish phylogeny given noisily inherited character strings can be tested using the over 140 ''dl'' type luck chain letters in this archive. PCLA provides a common data base and means of reference for anyone who wishes to cite, link to, download or print a paper chain letter in the archive. The unconditional right to do so is hereby granted. Please cite this URL or ''The Paper Chain Letter Archive'' in any publication.">Paper Chain Letter Archive</a><small> via <a href="http://hnn.us/blogs/comments/8394.html" title="Cliopatria: A Group Blog - Origins of Chain Letters, Posted by Jonathan Dresner on Friday, November 5, 2004 at 6:07 PM">History News Network's Cliopatria</a></small> tag:metafilter.com,2004:site.36818 Sun, 07 Nov 2004 21:09:15 -0800 chainletters history luck y2karl