Meme Me

Meme, (rhymes with "cream" and comes from Greek root with the meaning of memory and its derivative "mimeme"), is the term given to a unit of information that replicates from brains and inanimate stores of information, such as books and computers, to other brains or stores of information. The term meme was coined in 1976 by Richard Dawkins in his bestselling book, The Selfish Gene. Inanimate sources of information have been termed 'retention systems'.

In more specific terms, a meme is a self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having some resemblance to the gene (the unit of genetics). The difference lies in the replicative potential and minimally required resources to replicate. Memes can represent parts of ideas, languages, elemental particles, tunes, designs, skills, moral and aesthetic values and anything else that is commonly learned and passed on to others as a unit. The study of evolutionary models of information transfer is called memetics.

In casual use, the term meme is sometimes used to mean any piece of information that is passed from one mind to another. This is much closer to the analogy of "language as a virus" than it is to Dawkins's analogy of memes as replicating behaviors. Memes on the internet tend to proliferate for periods of time then quietly die off, and many start as obscure running jokes within net cliques which gradually lose their original meaning or otherwise become detached. Some people consider absurdist humor to be a good source of memes.

"The key to every man is his thought. Sturdy and defying though he look, he has a helm which he obeys, which is the idea after which all his facts are classified. He can only be reformed by showing him a new idea which commands his own."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Courtesy of WikipediA (I love encyclopedias)

So...if Meme's are passed information, replicated and passed again? Then are Blogs a form of Meme's? Hmmm...

Typically Meme's are those little (or sometimes not so little) questionaires that let people know you, somewhat, personally. Some people consider them annoying mail forwards. But ya know, they do read them. I would gather to say, out of sheer curiosity of the one that sent it. At any rate. Sometimes I find them amusing and entertaining. I am not, however, so caught up in the internet anonymity. I have no problem saying my opinion and owning up to the fact that it was me that said it, how I feel about and whether I would say it again. There are some, that believe Meme's are "Mind Viruses". Huh? You can't be serious...

So here is the A-Z of the current Meme...

Age: 36
Brains or Beauty: Brains
Chore I hate: Folding Laundry
Day I was born on: Monday
Easiest person to talk to: My Mom
Favorite perfume: "Miracle" by Lancome
Gummy candy or Gum: Gummi Bears
Hometown: Oceanside, California
Interesting fact: I won "Best Actress" in a mock Oscars ceremony in College
Junk I can't throw away: Play Bills and memorabilia from my Theatre days
Kids: Yes
Living arrangements: Buying a home
Man's favorite physical feature: Their smile and the way they smell
Number of apples eaten in the last week: Huh? That would be zero
Overnight hospital stays: Tonsilectomy when I was 5, My daughters birth when I was 25
Phobia: Falling
Question you ask yourself a lot: Why...and How
Religious affiliation: Christian
Siblings: 3 brothers and 3 sisters
Time I wake up: 6am
Unnatural hair color: Gray (it may grow on it's own, but I still think it is completely unnatural!)
Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Cooked Brocolli, Spinach or Asparagus. Anything raw is good.
Worst habit: Procrastination
X-rays?: Several
Yummy food I make: Chicken Enchiladas
Zodiac sign: Leo

I think this list could be a bit more indepth, or at least, somewhat rivoting. But there ya go...