Comments on: World’s Most Dangerous Meme http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2009/02/22/worlds-most-dangerous-meme/ (It's not defined!) Mon, 21 May 2012 22:59:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Blair http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2009/02/22/worlds-most-dangerous-meme/#comment-4065 Blair Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:41:31 +0000 http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/?p=1086#comment-4065 A key difference to this being propogated before the interwebz is that it would have been much more difficult for people you didn't know to come across the information en mass. As far as your nitpick goes: That's why I labeled my definition as <em>colloquial</em> instead of presenting it as a formal one. A key difference to this being propogated before the interwebz is that it would have been much more difficult for people you didn’t know to come across the information en mass.

As far as your nitpick goes: That’s why I labeled my definition as colloquial instead of presenting it as a formal one.

]]> By: Dave Learn http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2009/02/22/worlds-most-dangerous-meme/#comment-4064 Dave Learn Sun, 01 Mar 2009 07:08:01 +0000 http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/?p=1086#comment-4064 Oddments like this are pretty old; I remember coming across a variant of it more than 10 years ago as a newspaper reporter. Yes, it existed in the days before universal web access, and it included the maiden name as part of the gimmick then too. (Exotic dancer: dog's name, mother's maiden name.) It's a frivolous exercise in nomenclature that has carried over onto the Internet from its pre-Internet days, as have many other things of even less value. All that said, I don't dispute that it can be used in the manner you're describing. Small nitpick: the popular misuse of the term aside, these things are not memes. Properly speaking, a meme is an idea gene, the simplest, most basic level of an idea that can be transmitted from person to person, and from culture to culture; as it is transmitted, it manifests itself in personally and culturally appropriate ways, but the essence is unchanged. It's similar in nature to a literary motif. I have no idea how these things came to be called memes. Oddments like this are pretty old; I remember coming across a variant of it more than 10 years ago as a newspaper reporter. Yes, it existed in the days before universal web access, and it included the maiden name as part of the gimmick then too. (Exotic dancer: dog’s name, mother’s maiden name.)

It’s a frivolous exercise in nomenclature that has carried over onto the Internet from its pre-Internet days, as have many other things of even less value.

All that said, I don’t dispute that it can be used in the manner you’re describing.

Small nitpick: the popular misuse of the term aside, these things are not memes. Properly speaking, a meme is an idea gene, the simplest, most basic level of an idea that can be transmitted from person to person, and from culture to culture; as it is transmitted, it manifests itself in personally and culturally appropriate ways, but the essence is unchanged. It’s similar in nature to a literary motif.

I have no idea how these things came to be called memes.

]]> By: Blair http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2009/02/22/worlds-most-dangerous-meme/#comment-4062 Blair Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:48:40 +0000 http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/?p=1086#comment-4062 Well, it's spelled "Raymond Luxury Yacht", but it's pronounced "Throatwarbler Mangrove." That usually throws 'em off. Well, it’s spelled “Raymond Luxury Yacht”, but it’s pronounced “Throatwarbler Mangrove.”

That usually throws ‘em off.

]]> By: Katie http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2009/02/22/worlds-most-dangerous-meme/#comment-4061 Katie Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:33:54 +0000 http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/?p=1086#comment-4061 How do you spell your last name? :) How do you spell your last name? :)

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