Forum Overview :: American Beauty
 
Those would be failed memes by Mischief Devolver 11/26/2012, 8:33am PST
The thing most people miss about the concept of memes is that if ideas, concepts, and systems can be shaped by an analogue of natural selection, that means the current form of the ideas that scaffold our thinking are no longer the products of intelligent design. Let me clarify: they may indeed have originally had an intended purpose for which they were created, but their current form may not serve any purpose at all. So long as a meme is compelling to the human mind, that is all that is necessary for it to survive. Utility is unnecessary.

Just as biological evolution is a threat to religion, because it's a system that makes God unnecessary, meme evolution can change your entire worldview because it makes many conspiracies unnecessary. Are systems in place that constantly make the rich richer no matter the situation because of a brilliant long-term conspiracy devised by the rich? Or does being reliably beneficial to the powerful simply make the meme more likely to survive and be propagated? *cough* Atlas Shrugged *cough*

There are multiple mechanisms in place in our bodies to make our progeny more prone to mutation, therefore more adaptable to environmental changes and more evolve-able; from sex, to DNA shuffling in meiosis, to specific genes structurally more prone to mutation. By analogy, memes that don't make sense, or are self-contradictory, could actually have an evolutionary advantage over clear and straightforward ideas. Compelling memes that don't make sense are constantly being re-evaluated and reinterpreted until someone comes up with a new form of the meme that is even more compelling in this new environment than its parent meme.

The big thing with internet memes is that the web gives the opportunity to observe the life-cycle of a meme in its entirety.
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The forum for things people initially overpraised before sanity prevailed NT by Horrible Gelatinous Blob 10/10/2008, 12:51am PDT NEW
    Steven Seagal... oh wait by Zsenitan 10/10/2008, 1:14am PDT NEW
    coming soon: Dwarf Fortress! NT by Fullofkittens 10/10/2008, 5:27am PDT NEW
    Dane Cook and Quentin Tarantino. NT by Creexuls, a monster >:3 10/10/2008, 12:06pm PDT NEW
        BRO NT by Horrible Gelatinous Blob 10/10/2008, 2:29pm PDT NEW
        Just saw Grindhouse by FABIO 10/10/2008, 3:25pm PDT NEW
            Rodriguez makes entertaining movies at least. NT by Creexuls, a monster >:3 10/10/2008, 3:41pm PDT NEW
            I knocked up a girl just so I could stop the kid from ever seeing a QT film agai NT by Shredder 10/10/2008, 4:45pm PDT NEW
                I aborted my kid rather than let him grow up in a world with Death Proof NT by rather not say 10/10/2008, 5:58pm PDT NEW
                    It takes a tough guy to abort his own baby. by Jerry Whorebach 10/10/2008, 7:55pm PDT NEW
                        jerry: not proud. but had to tell someone. the tell-tale hear beats no longer NT by rather not say 10/11/2008, 1:50am PDT NEW
            The difference between Planet Terror and Resident Evil is huge. The end. by Fussbett 10/10/2008, 4:51pm PDT NEW
        The prevailing sanity point on Dane Cook seemed abrupt and total. by Last 10/13/2008, 2:45pm PDT NEW
            Re: The prevailing sanity point on Dane Cook seemed abrupt and total. by Creexuls, a monster >:3 10/13/2008, 3:18pm PDT NEW
                bro by FABIO 10/13/2008, 7:12pm PDT NEW
                    They've got a movie coming out?! by Entropy Stew 10/14/2008, 8:04am PDT NEW
                        So do the Duncan Brothers. ^_^ by Creexuls, a monster >:3 10/14/2008, 8:22am PDT NEW
                            Speaking of people who have made movies. by Creexuls, a monster >:3 10/14/2008, 9:12am PDT NEW
        Last Friday, I chickened out. by Fullofkittens 10/13/2008, 10:23pm PDT NEW
            I like Polanski. Mostly because of the sex stuff, his movies I could take or lea NT by Jerry Whorebach 10/14/2008, 2:26am PDT NEW
            Kill Bill. NT by Creexuls, a monster >:3 10/14/2008, 7:47am PDT NEW
                Ok, I didn't love Kill Bill. by Fullofkittens 10/14/2008, 10:43am PDT NEW
                    Did you like the walking scene where nothing happens or the sitting scene where NT by Creexuls, a monster >:3 10/14/2008, 10:58am PDT NEW
                        Kill Bill was a good movie for smart people. <ital>Go back to Quake.</ital> NT by Jerry Whorebach 10/14/2008, 3:58pm PDT NEW
    John Kerry NT by discuss among yourselves 10/10/2008, 3:28pm PDT NEW
        I'll see your John Kerry and raise you a John McCain/Joe Lieberman sandwich. by Jerry Whorebach 10/14/2008, 4:02pm PDT NEW
            Did I think I was making jokes in this thread? Half these aren't even sentences. by Jerry Whorebach 11/25/2012, 11:16pm PST NEW
    Internet memes. NT by Mysterio 11/25/2012, 10:07pm PST NEW
        Those would be failed memes by Mischief Devolver 11/26/2012, 8:33am PST NEW
            Tying internet memes into your obsession with sperm competition. You've done it! NT by Congraturation! 11/26/2012, 1:16pm PST NEW
                Hi-five my new best friend NT by Seanbaby 11/26/2012, 2:31pm PST NEW
                Tying them together is tautalogical. Do you know what a meme is? NT by Entropy Stew 11/26/2012, 3:08pm PST NEW
                    Re: Tying them together is tautalogical. Do you know what a meme is? by Mischief Maker 11/29/2012, 8:10am PST NEW
                        What the fuck could have possibly motivated this discussion? by Mysterio 11/29/2012, 8:22am PST NEW
                            MEMES and YOU by Entropy Stew 11/29/2012, 3:27pm PST NEW
                                Way to miss the point, ES. by Mysterio 11/29/2012, 11:18pm PST NEW
                                    Suppose you do defeat ES in this thread, by Mischief Maker 11/30/2012, 7:13am PST NEW
                                        Because the reward is interesting discussion rather than forum victory. by Mysterio 11/30/2012, 8:15am PST NEW
                                            It might be more interesting if you actually engaged in the argument by Entropy Stew 11/30/2012, 8:40am PST NEW
                                                Score one for trolling! Well, the kind that goes for low-hanging fruit anyway. by Mysterio 11/30/2012, 9:30am PST NEW
                                                    What? NT by Entropy Stew 11/30/2012, 9:50am PST NEW
                                            I agree with this poster. That is the reward. NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 11/30/2012, 10:41am PST NEW
                                                There is nothing interesting about equivocation, it's just a power play. NT by Anonymous Irony Maker 11/30/2012, 5:58pm PST NEW
                                                    I called something irrelevant and unworthy of thought, you decided that I was do by dging the subject/ 11/30/2012, 6:18pm PST NEW
                                                        Well, that's a pretty bad way to start a conversation NT by Kanye West 11/30/2012, 6:29pm PST NEW
                                                        No, you didn't know what Meme meant then claimed you were trolling to save face. by Anonymous Irony Maker 11/30/2012, 6:33pm PST NEW
                                                            I didn't make the initial post about memes, that was some other anonyfag. by Mysterio 12/01/2012, 2:59am PST NEW
                                                        I know, dude. by Ice Cream Jonsey 11/30/2012, 9:03pm PST NEW
                                                            Nobody that sinks five years of their life into making a text game for a shot at by Mysterio 12/01/2012, 3:00am PST NEW
                                                            Re: I know, dude. by United Nations Maker 12/01/2012, 6:06am PST NEW
                                                            Mark of the Ninja had caltrops in it, and then i remember this was a place by bombMexico 01/17/2013, 11:29pm PST NEW
                                                                But bombMexico by Ice Cream Jonsey 01/18/2013, 6:54am PST NEW
                                                        That wasn't the problem, retard by Entropy Stew 11/30/2012, 10:03pm PST NEW
                                                            Is the response you're looking for along the lines of 'one more interesting thin by g than you?' 12/01/2012, 3:07am PST NEW
                                        Why are you still whining about anonymous posters? by Worm 11/30/2012, 9:16am PST NEW
                                            I have no problem with the option but the cowardly choice still has consequences NT by Anonymous Irony Maker 11/30/2012, 6:13pm PST NEW
                                    I give you internet plutonium, you give me rogaine by Entropy Stew 11/30/2012, 8:17am PST NEW
                                        Fueling forum wars? There's no well drier, ES. NT by Mysterio 11/30/2012, 9:24am PST NEW
                                            Heated conversation has existed longer than speech by Entropy Stew 11/30/2012, 9:46am PST NEW
                                                It must be really frustrating to argue as a hobby when people refuse to argue. by Mysterio 11/30/2012, 10:40am PST NEW
                        You're going to LOVE The Onion's history of the internet series by fabio 11/29/2012, 2:07pm PST NEW
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