MEME & HUMAN CULTURE

MEMES & HUMAN CULTURE

  

. . .And then there were Hunter-Gatherers 
. . .and Cavewomen too . . .

About one hundred and fifty thousand years ago, give or take one or two hundred years, modern men, that is, technologically advanced Hunter-Gatherers, asked themselves:

“Who am I, where am I and where will I be in the year 2016?” No one had an answer, not even in 2015, but these nagging questions were begging for an answer. And so my soldier, Lindsey Alicia Margaret, begged her dad (Why ME!?)to Blog the meaning of our lives. I complained bitterly. I procrastinated forever. I imbibed Quaaludes on the rocks over Christmas and got droopy drunk on Cold Duck, Grey Goose and Schnapps in 2015. And then I had a “EUREKA!” moment in 2016 . . . here goes. . .

If you compare Genes and Memes you will discover deep essential similarities as well as many differences in form. Let us consider some similarities:

A Gene is a replicator. That is, it can self reproduce. A Meme is a self copier too. Both are governed by the principles of

The Evolutionary Algorithm (variation/Selection/heredity);

as well as the three carnal modes of improvement:

1.  Fidelity

2.  Fecundity

3.  Longevity

Both Genes and Memes are constantly striving to thrive and improve their quality of being (Fidelity), to reproduce themselves in as many copies as possible (Fecundity) and to extend to themselves a long life span (Longevity)

Take a look at

Meme Variation:

There are a wide variety of seasonal wears. The four normal seasons are Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Now if it is the end of Autumn, the Winter variations in clothing are coming out in display for customers to choose from. It's 20 degrees below. What is a meme to do? Well, a meme will do what comes naturally, that is, replicate to discover an improved mutant that is of worth to their customers, and discard meme mutants like summer wears that would not be appropriate for the winter season. The good news is, a wide range of memes are available for you to find one or two or more that will protect you from getting frost bitten.

I am talking about Winter wear options and also referring to Meme Variety. What gives? What do a variety of snow boots have to do with a variety of memes?

So, here is a learning moment:

A Gene is the blue print for growing living organisms.

A Meme is the blue print for manufacturing snow boots, snow tires and all the other phenomena of culture. Meme snow boot blue print varieties imply Meme variation 

Meme Selection:

Now, your mom makes a definitive decision on a choice of winter snow boot. Mom asks the ninety-nine year old sales person to let her have “This Black Suede Snow Boot” Specification information (“specs”). “specs” mean description info, instructions and/or user directions. A more formal title is Meme Selection Blue Print.

Meme Heredity:

The next winter (Winter 2016) has much 20 degree below days. You wonder:

“Maybe I should select the same snow boots like the one mom had in winter 2015?”

Mom gives you a pair of snow boot for Christmas.This snow boot served her so very well in 2015’s 20-below winter days. passing it on to you to be ready for 2016's 20-below days amounts to an inheritance from mom to you.This Black Suede Snow Boot meme (Blue Print) handed down from one generation (mom) to the next (daughter)is formally termed Meme Heredity.

From a wide Variety of different mittens you Select the wooly lined black pair. They are light, toasty warm and stylish. This was the winter of 2015.  Its 2028. We are in the throes of winter once again. Your grandson complains about having to shovel snow in the driveway without mittens. You fondly recall those wooly warm black mittens of yesteryear. You say to your 15- year old grandson, Bryson:

“Here, try these. They've been in the attic for 13 years but they still look and feel quite warm.”

So, you hand down these well worn and faithful old mittens to Bryson. He eyes them with suspicion. His grandpa says:

"These good old mittens might no longer be in style, but you will never get a frost bite shoveling snow with them."

 

And so, through Heredity, these sturdy and useful mittens will serve the next generation. These oldish wooly lined black mittens might even be inherited again by a great granddaughter in the 2040’s . . . only time will tell . . .

Your great granddaughter hands you a pair of wooly lined black mittens. You know these mittens. However, you are charmed when you discover that she made them herself. The 10-year old got the instruction ‘specs’ from “grammy’ and made them herself! You smile and say:

                                                      “Thank God for Memes!”

‘FIRE’ MEMES

Modern humans and their memes have changed and evolved.  A Hunter-Gatherer saw lightening strike the kitchen of one of his neighbors. The fire ignited by the lightening burnt the hut down but his neighbor’s wife, daughters and sons had a nice tasty roast goat that they shared with him. The next few occasions lightening struck, it included this Hunter-Gatherer’s hut, too. The next time lightening struck his hut, his duck was toast. The last strike cooked his goose. The next time it struck, he learned to control it to just roast and toast his sliced-and-diced Thanksgiving Turkey.

The next stage in the evolution of fire and its memes was rubbing two sticks together. The first time Hunter-Gatherer-Man tried this he experienced a first degree burn. He got better at it in subsequent trials by fire. His cave-neighbor imitated this "rubbing two sticks together to start a fire" trick and got it right after a thousand trials by fire.

One hundred years ago, and the tenth stage in the evolution of fire and its memes, matches were invented by Vulcan Man. This "striking a match to start a fire" was mesmerizing, and he was imitated by Nya-Bingi-Man, and so Rastafarian Man could light his weed with speed. But after three lights and three puffs with three unlucky strikes, Natti-Dreadlocks-Man had a Buzz, drove the wrong way down Jorelemon and was stopped by the Fuzz. Said The Fed to the buzzed Natti Dread:

"No doubt, three strikes and 'YOU'RE OUT!!'"

Any day now, there will be "an app for that". That is, download an app to your iPhone that when

“CLICKED!”

will "Light up your weed with speed".

Did I mention there were gene and meme differences? Yes? You sure? I was hoping you had forgotten; ok:

For two things, (1) genes are biochemical molecules (memes are not).  (Secondly) genes replicate, reproduce, regenerate copies of themselves by a seemingly magician's chemical sleight of hand known as “Complementary base Pairing” (very long story), and memes don’t; memes replicate exclusively by imitation (I am almost certain, but don’t quote me!). One caveman watches his cavewoman rub two sticks together and catches dry grass (MJ) on fire.

This inspired the famous motto:

“Where there is fire there is (grass to) smoke”

(Or words to that effect). The caveman explains how it’s done to his cave-mistress and his cave-wife catches him fooling around with his so-called “Sis” and sets him on fire (serves him right!!)

So. . . what exactly is a MEME?


It may still be debatable but a meme is said to be some experience of a human that may be passed on from human to human to human to other humans by humans. What is not a meme, you ask? Formally, A Meme is the Unit of culture. One meme or a set of closely cooperating memes,called a Memeplex, serves as the Blue Print to create, construct grow, evolve, etc, a cultural phenomenon. Shoplift any item in Pathmark; you just shoplifted a cultural phenomenon, or an item of cultural value (please, don't shoplift, its unbecoming). Download the "Angry Bird" app or the "Duck Hunt" app. Yes, these are cultural phenomena too.

Alternatively, consider shoplifting a Paper Clip from Staples. The Blue Print directions, or 'recipe',  to make a paper clip is the paper clip's meme. If paper clip making becomes obsolete it may mean its meme (recipe instructions)has stopped replicating. That is, people have stopped buying into the idea  (meme) of a cultural phenomenon called a 'Paper Clip'. people no longer care about using paper clips, so its meme has stopped being passed and spread from human to human to human. 

If an experience is not able to be imitated, by that definition, it may not be regarded as a meme. For example, private ideas/thoughts that is only in your mind, these are not memes. An unrevealed secret is not a meme because it is not shared with another soul (you kill these guys and bury them in your tool shed and you die {or not} and no one misses any of them because they faked their deaths in a "suicide pact" a few days before. You single handedly murdered each and every one of them because they killed your Pit Bull Terrier during rehearsals of their fake "suicide pact".)

A meme is not just interesting because it is a replicator that can be shared between humans. A meme is especially important to human beings particularly because it may inform and instruct cultural experiences. After all, memes contain the information and Instruction Blue Prints required to manufacture develop and evolve human culture.

As long as we still have a taste for green tea or need to warm ourselves by the campfire, we will continue to steal fire from lightening or start one by striking a lighter. While we warm ourselves we will strike up a tall tale or two with our children with some spine tingling scary ghost stories; this way they won’t wonder off and get killed by some beast. Your dad, the tribal Head Headshrinker,  will instruct his chief’s bravest warriors to scare away hyenas, bears and tigers by chasing and threatening the wild beasts with burning bushes that has been augmented with some spell binding voodoo memes. The tribal chief will inform the young warrior that all wild beasts have a deadly natural fear of fire. He shows them how to rub two sticks together until the friction between them set the dry bush starting to smoke. He tells them to continue vigorously rubbing the two sticks together and the friction will set the dry bush or dry grass first to smoke and then set ablaze.

 The different kinds of fire for preparing meals, getting toasty warm, and making us safe from all sorts of evil and danger, have continued to evolve and improve. We live in the space exploration age; fire is used to light and fire our rockets off to Mars, Saturn and Pluto.

Modern IT Man has mastered her culture of fire. The vast fire memeplex network continues to inform the growth, development and evolutionary rise of her technoculture.

Fueled vigorously by the vast network memeplex cultural infrastructure, humanities world wide Technoculture web being bred by Information Technomemes, have reached mind blowing dizzying heights and its rapid acceleration is a breathtakingly wild ride into the unknown future (which is six months from now!)

Very important:

Memes are replicators that are spread from one person to the next by one human imitating another. Memes serve as the information Instruction Blue Prints to create, grow, maintain and evolve human culture.

Human beings are embedded in a vast and deep ocean of culture, and memes are embedded in a vast mass of humanity of more than 7,000,000,000 (Seven Billion). A good representative cultural phenomenon is the USAA (U.S. Army). All the soldiers go through Basic Training and here Military Culture & Military Culture-Memes are drilled into each new recruit. That is, each is inculcated with the same military culture experience and military culture-making memes in the USAA Boot Camp Army Manuals. These military memes in books, pictures, songs, and movies, Drill Sergeant drilling, combat traing,  etc are copied, replicated, reproduced by the new recruits through each basically imitating and instructed by their Drill Sergeants.

This experience describes a meme quite well:

A Drill Sergeant who wants her soldier to copy, or imitate her, shows or demonstrates to her recruit the specific steps of how a military cultural task or experience is expected to be done, and then drills it into her soldier repeatedly. The Drill Sergeant has to "Deconstruct" The New Recruit and then "Reconstruct" The New Soldier in The Drill Sergeant's USSA Image by her imitating The Drill Sergeant.  The MEME  Instructions & Information spreads from The Drill Sergeant, who transforms a Civilian 

Lindsey A.M. Chang

and Remakes msczchang into a New USAA Soldier: 

 

  Pvt. 1st Class Lindsey Alicia Margaret Chang.

One last thing: Psychologists and other Shrinks insist that the little voice you hear in your head might be memes 'Thinking out loud'. Shrinks say 'your thoughts' are not yours, they are your Drill Sergeant's Memes's having a debate about what dastardly schemes (or good deeds) they should involve you and them in next.   

The next time you find you can't resist "Taking a Hike" as instructed by your Drill Sergeant, it could be you have turned into a

DRILL SERGEANT ZOMBIE