Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Badger, Badger, Badger Potter, Potter - What Is A Meme?

Cross the rainbow bridge of Asgaard,
Where the Blue Ming heavens roam,
You'll behold his breathless wonder,
The God of Thunder,
Mighty Thor!

For those that grew up with The Mighty Marvel Super Heroes you would not have to explain, it would be a shared communion of experience. Of comic books, cheesy limited animation cartoons, and a simpler time.

Theme of The Mighty Thor - http://www.toontracker.com

This isn't just about memory. There was a point in my life where this information was important for my social survival. It was a part of my tool kit for my neighborhood. (I was engaged in passionately debates that Thor would have whipped the pants off The Incredible Hulk.)

A meme (pronounced MEEm) is an idea or a concept that passes from human to human or from a source like a book, TV show or music) to another human. It is the cultural transmittal of
information.

There are different requirements for survival information. What may work in Denver does not fit into the lifestyle of Pittsburgh. Memes can be gender, social status, economics or simply how you have fun.

To start you off on the right foot visit Meme Central's FAQ at http://www.memecentral.com/faq, You can read the FAQ's to get a good overview of Memes.

Wikipedia has a solid page on Memes and the study of memetics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme

If you don't have enough personal memes and need to stock up check out the Memes List - http://www.memeslist.com or http://www.iampariah.com/memeslist/index.php

I bring this up because the newer generations have their own memes. They are reflections of their literature and environment. Instead of creating fanzines or talking they create flash
animations. These are transmitted via the Internet not only in the home environment but around the world.

Hence, I commend to you:

Viewing these cultural memes is not going to make a bit of sense to you if you are not hip deep in the hoopla. That is okay. I don't get it either except the Potter, Potter animation has a funky tune. Take what you can, and leave the rest.

Will take at least five to 10 minutes for dial-up users.

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