got some feedback from a friend today to the effect that i wasn't really being very clear about what i'm talking about when i say meme - that it sounded like i was trying to spread 'ideas'...
strange as it may sound, that kinda is what i'm talking about... ideas are a kind of information and memes are also a kind of information and good ideas tend to be memes - ideas that spread themselves, that are 'catchy' the way a good tune or jingle is catchy (because, after all, those are memes too - generally referred to as earworms)...
also the way the common cold is catchy... memes are sometimes referred to as viruses of the mind - they replicate from one host to another through mimicry/retelling/etc... i made an off-hand remark to that effect in my last post... the simplified description of the way memes propagate is: i see someone do something, then i do it, then other people see me doing it, then they do it, and so on and so forth...
i wasn't so sure how technical i should get regarding memes and memetics in general here and i'm still not sure... i don't want to over-think things or detract from the actual memes i'm trying to present... that said, this memetic lexicon is a pretty good starting point for those who want to know more, as is the wikipedia page on the meme...
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