Focus on the Family Citizen Link updates. Warning: Blood boilers enclosed.

[Zerbie]

Does anyone know who named it "meme" and why?? We could just be saying something like "contagious thought-construct," (short, CTC) or any of a number of similar names.

[Steven E. Webster]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

Does anyone know who named it "meme" and why?? We could just be saying something like "contagious thought-construct," (short, CTC) or any of a number of similar names.

Zerbie,
Googling brings me right to the Wikipedia article on "meme"!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme

Notice that this article is a good example of work in progress at Wikipedia--there's a couple of warning notes at the top indicating deficiencies in the article that folks are being invited to work on.

Here's a pertinent quote indicating that the term was coined by Richard Dawkins:

A meme (pronounced /miːm/[1]) consists of any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity. Memes propagate themselves and can move through a "culture" in a manner similar to the behavior of a virus. As a unit of cultural evolution, a meme in some ways resembles a gene. Richard Dawkins, in his book, The Selfish Gene,[2] recounts how and why he coined the term meme to describe how one might extend Darwinian principles to explain the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. He gave as examples tunes, catch-phrases, beliefs, clothing-fashions, and the technology of building arches.

Steven Webster

[BrianB]

Originally Posted by Rick336

Brian,

Please don't assume that because I didn't provide a link that I "pulled this out of thin air."

Google the word meme. (It rhymes with dream) There is a wealth of information on the internet about memes. Memes are not necessarily bad or unfounded beliefs. Some memes are catch phrases, fashions, songs, or cultural trends.


Rick

Thank you for the extra links, Rick. I did look up memes on Wikipedia. My feathers got a little ruffled because you used the AoG as an example. I grew up in the AoG and still believe that much of what they do is genuinely from the Holy Spirit. I fired off a post before getting more info. I'm sorry.

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by Brian

My feathers got a little ruffled because you used the AoG as an example. I grew up in the AoG and still believe that much of what they do is genuinely from the Holy Spirit. I fired off a post before getting more info. I'm sorry.

Brian. No problem.

[Emproph]

Not that I take offense to thread drift, but I too feel that this is an interesting topic. It might help to focus on it if it had its own venue. Especially without having to continually bring up the monstrosity of Citizenlink bloodboilers each time - others might be more prone to tune in as well.

Starting perhaps at Rick's post?
http://www.soulforce.org/forums/show...5977#post55977

And with meme in the title: "What is a meme?" or "Discussion on memes," etc.

Rick, others?

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by Zerbie

"Conservapedia?" OMG. Why should I be surprised? It's just - I don't understand why anyone would deliberately try to be ignorant, which this would seem to imply, along with things like 'museums' about early people hangin' out with the dinosaurs, and Bible tracts on the walls.

Zerbie,

I agree. It boggles my mind why so much time and energy is put into justifying hate.

On another forum I used to read, a man was obsessed with illegal immigrants. He'd go on and on, writing long posts about how illegal immigrants were taking over America and destroying the country. He was always coming up with statistics on how many immigrants were criminals or drug addicts or jobless or whatever. It was all that he ever talked about. He was completely obsessed with Mexicans in particular and Hispanics in general. He was filled with anger and hate. I always wondered if there was something else going on there.

Eventually it was revealed that his wife had died of cancer, his kids had become uncontrollable, and he'd lost his job. He was extremely angry at the world and how his life had turned out and he had to find somebody to kick.

I don't know if this answers why so many find the need to lash out at LGBT people but I suspect that dissatisfaction and unhappiness with life at least explains some of it.

Rick

[Rick336]

Originally Posted by Emproph

Not that I take offense to thread drift, but I too feel that this is an interesting topic. It might help to focus on it if it had its own venue. Especially without having to continually bring up the monstrosity of Citizenlink bloodboilers each time - others might be more prone to tune in as well.

Yes. I agree. I'll start another thread on the subject.

Thanks.

Rick

[Emproph]

Originally Posted by Rick336

Yes. I agree. I'll start another thread on the subject.

Thanks.

Rick

I was actually thinking that maybe a monitor could separate all the posts on the meme in this thread - as we are already well into the conversation. I just wasn't sure where to cut it off at.

[Zerbie]

Originally Posted by Rick336

Zerbie,

I agree. It boggles my mind why so much time and energy is put into justifying hate.

Yes, that as well, of course. In addition to the hate part of it, what stymies me even more is that anyone would deliberately try to shut out knowledge of the world around them, with constructions like "conservapediae" and fictional museums. It's like they are trying to maladapt to the world, and trying to maladapt their children who they 'educate' (inculcate into gross falsehood?) in such ways.



On another forum I used to read, a man was obsessed with illegal immigrants. He'd go on and on, writing long posts about how illegal immigrants were taking over America and destroying the country.

Eventually it was revealed that his wife had died of cancer, his kids had become uncontrollable, and he'd lost his job. He was extremely angry at the world and how his life had turned out and he had to find somebody to kick.

I don't know if this answers why so many find the need to lash out at LGBT people but I suspect that dissatisfaction and unhappiness with life at least explains some of it.

Rick

I worry about that. If that's true, then we need to buckle our seatbelts, b/c with the economy the way it is a lot more folk are going to be struggling. One would HOPE they would recognize some of the factors contributing to their economic problems, but maybe they don't or maybe they do and feel powerless to do anything about it (I guess that might include me, actually). I wouldn't be surprised if some of those folks who are unfamiliar with gay persons vote for the marriage amendments in their respective states on the basis that voting against gays may seem like *something* they can do to fight - like, fighting back against the failing economy in a misplaced direction. (Here in AZ in 2006, a LOT of anti-immigrant stuff was on the ballot and passed by a landslide. Actually, I think immigrants will have more to worry about than LGBTs in the near future.)

If so, we all better buckle up. Direct our attention to the REAL problems and face those so that they don't swallow us up.