[HN Gopher] The Meme Machine (1999)
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The Meme Machine (1999)
Author : xo5vik
Score : 26 points
Date : 2021-04-10 08:11 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.susanblackmore.uk)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.susanblackmore.uk)
| HeckFeck wrote:
| > The memes took a great step forward when they invented writing
| - and then printing, and then other forms of communication, from
| railways and ships to fax machines. The important concepts of
| copy-the-product versus copy-the-instruction are explained. _We
| can now understand how and why the internet has evolved and guess
| at the direction the memes will push it in._
|
| From the synopsis. Oh boy was that prescient.
|
| I'm also glad we don't have to wait for our memes to arrive by
| railway, as was seemingly done in the past.
| jghn wrote:
| It still makes me a bit sad that the concept of "meme" managed to
| shift from being an informational analogue of genes to a viral
| image with goofy text. I'm not sure how that happened, but at
| this point the ship has sailed.
| okareaman wrote:
| Or you could expand your information bubble to see memes that
| aren't image macros
| RosanaAnaDana wrote:
| Most appropriately: ?Porque no los dos?
|
| I read the selfish gene back in 2006-7 ish, and I think that
| both the modern conception of meme and the original
| presentation of the idea fit rather nicely together and
| aren't contradictory. The more technical definition is
| broader, but non-exclusionary to the common usage. I think
| most people understand that the idea of meme goes beyond
| image macros: abusively quoting a moving to the point its
| devoid of meaning ('your father was a hamster and your mother
| smelled of elderberries'); cats (looking at you ancient
| Egypt); fart jokes (medieval art).
|
| Memes that people call memes are memes. And some people
| recognize things more broadly and also call those memes. The
| definitions are nested and non-exclusionary, which is rather
| convenient.
| cjohansson wrote:
| I think meme is such a complex concept nowadays that
| anything can be a meme, the word has almost no meaning at
| all
| jghn wrote:
| If you say "meme" to an average person on the street they're
| going to be picturing a goofy gif, not the work of Dawkins
| and Blackmore. That's my point.
| xkeysc0re wrote:
| There are a few academic groups, like the Bard Meme Lab
| (https://memelab.bard.edu/) that are still interested in the
| original meaning of the meme, but also noting its current
| incarnation and usage, and doing research within that frame
| Garlef wrote:
| Here's the strategy I go with:
|
| I use the term "memeplex" in order to differentiate it from
| what a meme is in the mainstream.
|
| (Btw - I don't think the difference between "memeplex" and
| "meme" is substantial: It's a mereological distinction anyways.
| Similar to "Data" and "Datum").
| SeeManDo wrote:
| The History of 4chan?
| k__ wrote:
| I like, that the book was written years before 4chan, but the
| cover looks like a shitpost from a few years ago.
| HeckFeck wrote:
| The cover could pass as Meme Man's slightly more rendered
| cousins.
| gmuslera wrote:
| Watching a decade ago her TED talk
| (https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_blackmore_memes_and_temes) was
| something like a shock for me, as I was unaware of the concept
| back then.
|
| Even if you don't agree with her conclusions, watching things a
| different point of view can give you new insights.
| [deleted]
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