Barstool Sports is trying to replicate the Allison Stokke meme with West Virginia University soccer player Amanda Cicchini. It's a bit forced. While I can't speak for everyone, my reaction to seeing photos of Stokke was something approaching awe - she's a uniquely beautiful young woman, and the photos capture a rare sense of determination and focus. My reaction to Cicchini's photos is that she's a cute girl who's trying too hard to be naughty. Also, several of Cicchini's photos are sexually suggestive; nothing like that surfaced with Stokke.
I didn't post about Stokke when the meme was hot because she was in high school at the time, but Cicchini is college-aged, so she's fair game.
(Richard) Dawkins used the term to refer to any cultural entity (such as a song, an idea or a religion) that an observer might consider a replicator. He hypothesised that people could view many cultural entities as replicators, generally replicating through exposure to humans, who have evolved as efficient (though not perfect) copiers of information and behaviour. Memes do not always get copied perfectly, and might indeed become refined, combined or otherwise modified with other ideas, resulting in new memes. These memes may themselves prove more (or less) efficient replicators than their predecessors, thus providing a framework for an hypothesis of cultural evolution, analogous to the theory of biological evolution based on genes.
So basically, a meme is any bit of information that grows to extraordinary prominence in a short time. The way that the Allison Stokke became an instant celebrity and then faded out is characteristic of a meme.
cpbell0033944
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re: Memes
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Registered
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2007-11-18 07:53:01
Lingster wrote:
From
Wikipedia:
Quote:
(Richard) Dawkins used the term to refer to any cultural entity (such as a song, an idea or a religion) that an observer might consider a replicator. He hypothesised that people could view many cultural entities as replicators, generally replicating through exposure to humans, who have evolved as efficient (though not perfect) copiers of information and behaviour. Memes do not always get copied perfectly, and might indeed become refined, combined or otherwise modified with other ideas, resulting in new memes. These memes may themselves prove more (or less) efficient replicators than their predecessors, thus providing a framework for an hypothesis of cultural evolution, analogous to the theory of biological evolution based on genes.
So basically, a meme is any bit of information that grows to extraordinary prominence in a short time. The way that the Allison Stokke became an instant celebrity and then faded out is characteristic of a meme.
Might I express surprise that someone of conservative and right-of-centre views is quoting Richard Dawkins?
Lingster
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Dawkins
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Super Administrator
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2007-11-18 10:39:56
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
cpbell0033944
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Stopped clock
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2007-11-18 13:45:20
Personally, I think that his premise is good (science and religion are different matters and should not be mixed), but that his vitriolic attacks on Judeo-Christian religion are ill-judged and smack of a man who has reached such a level of seniority that he has ceased to properly argue his case. However, compared to the sadly odious and tragic Jim Watson and his disgraceful remarks on the inteliigence (or supposed lack thereof) of black people, Dawkins seems very mild and uncontrovertial. :roll:
Lingster
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Religion
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Super Administrator
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2007-11-18 16:11:35
[i]Institutionalized
[/i] science and [i]institutionalized
[/i] religion are two different things, but human beings are hard-wired for religion and can easily become 'religious' about all sorts of things, including science. That's Dawkins' fate, and it is particularly ironic.
iri1001
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re: re: Memes
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2007-11-19 06:16:52
cpbell0033944
wrote:
Might I express surprise that someone of conservative and right-of-centre views is quoting Richard Dawkins?
In any case, the most publicly prominent views of Dawkins are those regarding atheism and evolution. Now, I wouldn't mind if Lingster were to reveal that he's a highly religious, pro-creationism fundamentalist, as it would give me another hook for making fun of him :D
...but haven't gotten that impression from him, yet.
Lingster
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Ahem
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Super Administrator
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2007-11-19 10:29:31
cpbell is a victim of the caricature of American politics presented by the BBC. He has a somewhat skewed view of why someone would Democrat or Republican in the U.S.
Of course plenty of Americans suffer under the same kind of ignorance, but lack the excuse of being brainwashed by a ridiculously biased state-owned propaganda organ. So we don't go too hard on him.
