Hi All,
I just read Mark's blog on the end of memes and I'm totally confused. I'm sure Mark is on to something, but I don't get it.
Memes are reproducing units of culture, so they include anything learned from parent to child, or from peer to peer. They don't necessarily have to be in the media. A tribe in Africa with no contact with television or the web still has memes because it still has culture. There is no piece of culture that is not a meme because memes are the stuff of culture! The human psyche, even the personality, is largely memetic in that it's composed of cultural software that's not found in the genome.
So what are the memes Mark is talking about? They seem to be a certain kind of meme that only exists on the media. And Mark claims they're dying out, or dead already because.... these memes aren't effective when there is more memory around??
So what are the memes Mark is talking about? They seem to be a certain kind of meme that only exists on the media. And Mark claims they're dying out, or dead already because.... these memes aren't effective when there is more memory around??
"It is this ability to remember (which computer do to us when we habitually use them), as opposed to the ability to suspend belief over the make-believe of television and similar types of media that marks the end of the effectiveness of memes under digital conditions. "
I get that some kind of meme had to die out with television, but I'm having a hard time pinning down exactly what that is. The ability for more cultural memory to be stored around the web has allowed memes to flourish. Mark can't be talking about the famed "internet meme" because that would make no sense.
Every post on Facebook is a meme, (the entire internet is a memeplex made of memes!) ... but I just went on facebook for about 30 seconds to find a quintessential internet meme and here is the first one I found:
I get that some kind of meme had to die out with television, but I'm having a hard time pinning down exactly what that is. The ability for more cultural memory to be stored around the web has allowed memes to flourish. Mark can't be talking about the famed "internet meme" because that would make no sense.
Every post on Facebook is a meme, (the entire internet is a memeplex made of memes!) ... but I just went on facebook for about 30 seconds to find a quintessential internet meme and here is the first one I found:
You can even see on the bottom right that the place it came from is called memegenerator.net
The enhanced external memory all around us has allowed for the hyper-evolution of memes. Memes are both reproducing AND being processed (evolving) by larger and larger populations as more people pay attention to the same things. The "cognitive surplus" (Clay Shirky) is allowing more attention to go into processing more memes on the media.
So what is Mark talking about here?:
"Memes were very much a part of the television “revolution” that McLuhan wrote about — perfect for television advertising. Memes are “democratic” and psychographically weaponized: Unlike one-size-fits-all propaganda, you get to choose between Coke or Pepsi. Memes are meaningless and you can’t argue with them. Just like television. Just do it! (Don’t think about it.) "
“We shape our tools and, thereafter, they shape us.” McLuhan himself often summarized this understanding in terms of a Gestalt: figure and ground. Without this basic concept, McLuhan cannot be grasped. This is McLuhan 101.
"In modern terms, formal cause is roughly analogous to “structure” or “environment” or “paradigm.” In psychological terms, formal cause means those technological influences that condition the early-stages of learning, which substantially define the “wiring” of our initially plastic brains."
"Digital technology is all about remembering. Thus, digital technology sounded the death knell for make-believe memes "
Why? Why is remembering a problem for memes?
"With our new digital environment, this process of remembering has now become the ground of our daily experiences."
I can't find a straightforward explanation in the article or anywhere on the web, of 1) what is the meme Mark's talking about, and 2) why this meme is dead or dying. I'm sure Mark is saying something significant because I can tell there is a real difference between the television era and the internet era and the way the media "programs" society in each era.
-Jamie