Today as we were discussing memes, Mr. Ahmed had mentioned something that caught my attention. He had mentioned that memes are presented with conflicts that at that time determine the strength of the meme, which in turn, determines whether its existence continues or dies out. Before class had begun, I was watching the news. They were reporting on “Occupy Wall Street”. For those of you who may not know, this is a nationwide protest located in major cities throughout the United States. Particularly, “Occupy Wall Street”, is a resistance movement of the greed and corruption of corporate ownership, social injustice, and high unemployment, just to name a few. These demonstrations and protests are held, not only in New York, but are also in Pittsburgh, PA and Oklahoma City, OK.
The relationship between the survival of a meme and these protests comes in the form of eviction letters given to the protestors to discontinue their movements and move out of the area. This clearly demonstrates the conflict a meme can endure through its process of development. Just as these protests are being noticed and becoming a huge ordeal, the government decides it’s in the best interests of everyone to knock them down, blaming them for uncleanly circumstances. As many of the protestors are standing strong, this truly will determine whether this meme of standing up for what’s right is to stay or go.
Jessica Young
I do find it interesting how the government tries everything in their ability to stop riots and protests, even though people are protesting something for the better cost. With that being said, I believe that it is safe to say that in order to create a strong meme with no conflictions, you would have to learn how to work around the restrictions. There is nothing wrong with protesting how you feel about something.
ReplyDeleteJeffrey says:
ReplyDeleteJessica is right about the fact that whenever memes are presented with conflicts, at that time, it accounts for the determination of the pure strength that the meme endures. Thus in turn, it demonstrates whether its existence continues or dies out. All life evolves by the differential survival of replicating entities. A meme is a replicator that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. Memes tend to propagate themselves, spreading from one brain to another through a process of imitation. N.K. Humphrey explicitly summarized the meme: “…memes should be regarded as living structures, not just metaphorically but technically.” Imitation, a means of meme replication, is most successful through longevity, fecundity, and copying-fidelity. Taking the nationwide protests into consideration; the meme faces a confliction, thus increasing the abundance of developmental survival.
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Before this class I had never even heard of memes, so it was a very interesting topic to discuss and learn about in this course. I definitely would have to agree with Jessica in saying that memes can endure conflicts. I also agree with Chrystal, that you would have to deal with and work around the restrictions of a meme.
ReplyDeleteKristi Quinn
After having the class on memes I have been haring it come up in conversations more. I think that the occupy wall street is a meme that wont last. People have very strong opinions about a lot of things but to me changing those problems are almost impossible. People are consumers they are connected to these company even if the don't realize it. They may have bought a product or at one time worked for a side company.
ReplyDeleteI along with the rest of the class never heard of the word meme. It was interesting to me that they endured conflict. Almost like life in away. No matter how great your life is there will be some sort of conflict along the way as you grow older.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the "Occupy Wall Street" movement could be classified as a meme, however I do not agree that it is a meme that won't last. Whether the protests are successful or not makes no difference here; even if nothing changes, these protests have planted an idea in the minds of Americans about protesting and the power it may/may not have. The idea might be different depending on the stance one might take, but the idea is still present. This is essentially what memes are all about. Occupy Wall Street has become memetic simply because people can interpret these protests in their own ways and expand upon these ideas in the future.
ReplyDeleteBefore this class the only memes I have ever heard of were internet memes. Faces such as poker face, troll face, and forever alone guy. Or random jingles such as nyan cat, Rick Astley or anything similar to that. I never had a clue about the fact that memes are an international thing describing things in any given society. This particular section of the class I did not really care for, but the fact that what I considered to be humorous was actually meant to stand for something resembling conflict really caught my attention.
ReplyDeleteI like where Jessica went with this idea. I never really thought of the connection between memes and everyday life. I just took it as a class discussion. Memes make more sense now because they connect to something that is nationwide not just fashion trends or songs. Memes can be a very difficult concept to understand. But when you put it in perspective of current events and more important things, the idea of memes is clearer to understand.
ReplyDeleteI can agree with Alex on this one. That before this class I have never heard the term meme. I also have to say that I agree with Mark that after learning this in class I notice it used in conversations outside of class, I even heard it on the news the one day.
ReplyDeleteI also have to agree with Jessica and say that memes do make conflicts and the example she used was a great example to show it
I have never heard the term meme before as well. I have learned a lot in this class, and I agree with Megan, I have noticed after learning in class about memes, that people use them in every day conversation outside of class.
ReplyDelete