Meme Dancing

[Mole]

Just as biological fitness can be measured by the number of offspring, cultural fitness can be measured by the number of memes.

And this is precisely what we are doing here - we are reproducing memes.

You knew at the back of your mind that this was all about reproduction, that this is all about co-creation, and that this is all about intercourse - cultural intercourse of course - and you were right.

And of course our memes compete with one another. And we compete to ensure that our memes survive.

And sometimes we co-operate to raise our memes so they can go out into the world and reproduce themselves.

Some memes are hot and some memes are bloody-minded. But each individual meme seeks to survive and multiply.

Go forth, said Haight, go forth and multiply.

And we do - our memes are multiplying like rabbits.

But it is the social intercourse that tempts us again and again, to test fate and fertilise our memes in the mind of another.

Sometimes we hate the mind of the other, sometimes we love them, but we always love someone who shares the same memes as ourselves.

We even try to persuade another mind to entertain our memes.

Sometimes we do a deal and say, I will entertain your memes if you will entertain mine.

But all are strategies for reproduction.

So we dance to the tune of the memes - and all we have to do is listen to the music - and the music will listen to us.

 

[wolfy]

It's interesting to watch how a meme will move through the forum. The same meme can sometimes gain traction, sometimes die early. Sometimes a meme will change when someone turns them upside down or inside out.

Dancing with a meme beats dancing with dogma any day of the week.