> > So my answer is that it will take the birth of a "virus" that will
> make the most influential memes, those which the largest amount
> of people across cultural boundaries are "infected"
> with.
A good start.
> The "strong" man meme is outdated. The man no longer needs to
> hunt for food to provide for his family or fight off predators or
> even wars for that matter. As we reach a new millenium I think we
> are also reaching an end to this meme because it is no longer
> necessary for the propagation of the human species.
While all this is true, the `necessity' of a meme has very little to do
with its survival. The <God> meme can be argued to be unnecessary, but
that doesn't seem to be slowing its propagation much.
But looking past that and asking "Is the <God> meme actually necessary
after all?" is the fist step in in seeing what elements within the <God>
meme trigger our "meaning" receptors and how to block those receptors
using other specifically crafted memes.
What buttons does the <male ego/authority/power> meme use to signal itself
as valuable to the host (male and female)?
> Also, it is no
> longer necessary for women to bat their eyelashes to get a man,
> brains are in. Beauty (in my opinion) in the "super model" or
> ultra feminine sense is out (who the hell can live up to Cindy
> Crawford or Kate Moss, better yet who would want to?).
Would that it were so, but.... Brains may be `in' and women may not want
to look like supermodels (with good reason), but the reason there are
supermodels and ultra feminine women is because that behavior confers an
advantage for them. Batting your eyelashes at a man may be against your
ideals, but it is an effective way of curring their favor. Why abandon
this advantage over men when you could use it? Isn't there a Greek play
about all the women in the city withholding sex until the men stop their
fighting? ;-)
If egotistical sexist men stopped getting laid tomorrow, you'd be hard
pressed to find one by the weeks end.
> Hey, I'll
> be happy to pay for my own meal if that means I am no longer an
> object and I can make .35 more an hour (and expectations are on an
> equivalent plane, ha ha).
> Are pretentious yuppies still admired? It seems to me that
> these are the people who are being laughed at.
But the grab for money and power isn't slowed by laughter. Were do you
think <Laughin' all the way to the bank> came from?
> I read _Spy_ and
> _Details_ once in a while just to see what is going on in the
> "post-modern fashion world". I enjoy these
> magazines at a certain level because they promote a genre in which
> the "nerds" are transcended above the arficiality of the world, even
> though they are a part of it, at the same time they make fun of it
> the way it previously made fun of them. I don't know if Bill Gates
> was a nerd in high school, but if he was, look whose laughing now.
Bill is the King of Yuppies, you know. He just does the "nerd" act to get
chicks.
> The "iconic" figures in the "post-modern" genre are the
> folks we've labeled "nerd" since the advent of computers.
> My thought is that there is a very powerful meme spreading right now
> that is allowing those with the knowledge in science and technology
> to laugh at all those old stereotypes that were spread by way of the
> "iconic stud meme".
Ask a group of 16 year old boys it they'd rather switch roles for the
weekend with Bill Gates or a porn stud and let me know what the results
are.
> Sorry for the overelaborate and indirect way of answering your
> question, hell, I don't even know if that answered it (my
> mom is responsible for the overly talkative gene and my dad
> the overly analytical gene. Dangerous combo.)
They seem to have done a wonderful job in creating and raising you, my
complements.
And no, you didn't answer the question.
-Prof. Tim