Forums / Discussion / Meme Research

after many years deprograming my self from what I later found were called memes, it was not my imagination they existed (just did not know their name) I find when interacting in social situations, that I have to check out what the local meme is. Then have to pretend I`m infected. I no longer have the luxury of instinctivly fitting in. As Plato said "better to be an unhappy Socrates than a happy pig" Any one out there bothered to think outside the boundries ? or is it just a "game meme"? for all? Thoughts anyone?
Ste Howse

Did anyone catch what he was saying?

pretty simple when relating to meme infected people, ie god meme it helps if U pretend that U believe in the same shit as them. It gets a strain after a while. In the old days they just burnt U at the stake! Or dont U get the whole point of memes rather than just as a joke ?

Are you Tommy Mims?

No I have never met nor heard of the person sorry, Names Ste

?

Just into studying memes and how they interact with society as a whole, found this web site wondered if it was serious or not (like pink unicorns though, mines green and sits on my shoulder)Ste

Ste?
What's that about?

what is this i dont even

have U not looked at the pink unicorn post on this web site

No I have never met nor heard of the person sorry, Names Ste

Suspiciously specific denial.

I`m a serious student of memes and am interested in others views (memes) on the subject. It depends on ones actual self deprograming really

@Steve
Incoherent.

I`m just sat here in the Uk doing a bit of research and never heard of T M

I'm just?
That's similar to how Tommy Mims spoke.

you seem to be suffering from a "tommy mims paranioa meme" I`m in the UK and its 1.29 in the morning. Suppose to writing a essay on MEMES because its more interesting than the subject I was asked to submit.

Tommy Mims paranoia meme?
WTF?

are you sure this t mimms aint a pink unicorn "https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-invisible-pink-unicorn"

…You don't really get what is meme is, do you?

I vey much "get" what a MEME is.A meme (pronounced /ˈmiːm/, rhyming with "cream"[1]) is a postulated unit of cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. (The etymology of the term relates to the Greek word μιμητισμός (pronounced /mɪmetɪsmos/) for "something imitated".)[2] Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes, in that they self-replicate and respond to selective pressures.[3]
The British scientist Richard Dawkins introduced the word "meme" in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a basis for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catch-phrases, beliefs (notably religious beliefs), clothing fashion, and the technology of building arches.[4]
Meme-theorists[which?] contend that memes evolve by natural selection (in a manner analogous to that of biological evolution) through the processes of variation, mutation, competition, and inheritance influencing an individual entity's reproductive success.[citation needed] Memes spread through the behaviors that they generate in their hosts. Memes that propagate less prolifically may become extinct, while others may survive, spread, and (for better or for worse) mutate. Theorists point out that memes which replicate the most effectively spread best, and some memes may replicate effectively even when they prove detrimental to the welfare of their hosts.[5]
A field of study called memetics[6] arose in the 1990s to explore the concepts and transmission of memes in terms of an evolutionary model. Criticism from a variety of fronts has challenged the notion that scholarship can examine memes empirically. Some commentators question the idea that one can meaningfully categorize culture in terms of discrete units.

You sure love the copypasta.

21 GET!
You don't understand the IPU, and you probably copypasta'd the definition.
Explain "meme" in your own words.
And stop trolling.

not as good as past and sauce

?

I'm at a loss for words.

@Watcher
I think he's doing it on purpose.

I`m sorry but have better things do do in the middle of the night, I`d be interested in sensible communication. But pissing up the wall competions with a possible johnny no friend is not my idea of useful time. If you have MEME problems of your own, it`s not my problem. If you can act like a grown up (theres a meme for you) OK. but childish internet waffle is not my cup of tea SORRY

Exactly. Why someone would want to troll leaves me at a loss for words.

@Steve
This isn't a competition.

You understood him?

A meme is real. As the Selfish Gene, we do not pretend we are infected; we are infected.

P.S. there's your slogan.

Is this what U do in the middle of the night when theres no one to play with ? One can only hope there are more interesting people on this site and that most others are not in a teenage time warp. Playing such games just shows how certain MEMES overtake people, there again maybe I`m wrong and its a full moon

Ah well I have another couple of thousand words to write over the next two days and I think YOU have given me inspiration for a different direction vis Memes so Thanks and bye

Bye Ste

Wat.

Steve, I don't think you ACTUALLY get what a meme is. Maaaaaaaybe this isn't the site you're looking for, because it looks like you're referring to memes as phycological disorders, or therories.

P.S It's 8:00 over here, so it's not night.

Everyone:

Ste is talking about all memes in general, not Internet Memes like we normally discuss here. He doesn't seem to know much about the cultures of the same sites that we come from. Basically, we're all hosts to memes whether we like it or not, memes do not exist for the sake of being either beneficial or destructive. Memes exist purely for the sake of replicating.

Ste seems to be talking about larger cultural memes instilled through beliefs and institutions. We normally discuss specific internet trends around viral videos, image macros, madlib-style jokes, mashups, and other things spawned generally by really prolific meme-spawning hubs like 4chan, SomethingAwful, YTMND, and other sites that inherited a lot of their own in-jokes and other cultural elements from earlier sites.

The frame of reference for most meme discussions held in these forums are usually surrounding viral culture. That's where this miscommunication is coming from.

thanks to Chris Manning for clearing up that point, started to wonder where people were coming from Ste

It's Menning. :c And yes, we seriously discuss memes here (just internet memes). There are IRL memes everywhere, but Internet memes are more underground, which I guess, are much more selective.

OK thanks I`m more into cultural and social Memes as relate to society as a whole over the past 40,000 or so years. Finding sites or people who understand that can be difficult due to them being controlled by aforesaid Memes. Still There is no point giving up on any possible site, as there may be people like myself "trolling" if thats the word looking for some illumination on the subject. Sorry if I upset the natives ! it was totally unintentional. I`m just surfing for knowledge and it`s all relevant and valid. What`s true today in the light of tommorows information may well turn out to be un-true tommorow. Sounds trite but true ,dont let those memes pull you down. Ste

Yeah, there isn't a community for societal memes yet. This is internet exclusive. You may want to look elsewhere.

I gathered that

Steve. I don't clearly understand how a meme can "control" us.
Even if they mainly exist for the sake of being replicated, as Chris stated it well, and that when we participate in a meme, we are, in the end, only a simple "tool" who help it spread, there's no "control" in a way that we never do it without a purpose, generally amusement.

I'm sorry, Steve, but you sound like a dramatic Jehovah's witness when it comes to memes. As Tomberry says, we help them spread for lulz. We are not "overpowered" by them and you make it sound like we worship memes like a God or something. Are you studying? Or merely debating.

We don't spread memes for teh lulz. We DOCUMENT memes for the KNOWLEDGE.

^^^ word.

and "use" them on the foru-

I… Don't even.
;_;

This guy is either really bad at the internet, or I just got LOVED TENDERLY by a troll.

I still say Troll.

Yup.

So I leave you in your fantasy world, soft and comfortable where the only people that will talk with you are the ones that agree with the fantasy. Those that disagree forever barred due to the fact that they dont share the relevant MEME.

Typical troll dramu.