Slay
Ex-Bluelighter
oh rated e, what a well written postRated E said:
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P&S Moderators: JackARoe | Cheshire_Kat
Interesting Meme is Interesting
- Thread starter Jamshyd
- Start date
Obyron
Bluelight Crew
The proliferation of meme-based humor (to keep in mind that such memes are merely a very small subset of the overall meme pool) in certain places, to me, is almost a microcosm of human interaction, and a satire of how by overusing conversational setpieces to "fit in" within a certain group, you show that as conformity rises, the signal:noise ratio plummets. Think about this the next time you spend 20 minutes wasting your time talking to someone about weather or gas prices. You are rehashing the same tired memes.
Thou
Bluelighter
A disease that spreads like sunshine
I saw the title of this thread first, not expecting something worth clicking, but after gazing on the forum for which it originated, and than it's originator, inevitably, I myself, have been waiting for another discussion on this topic.
Lo and behold, thanks Jam for not disappointing.
Wish I had more to offer to the conversation than to say that it's one that has been intriguing my mind as of late, has almost a contagious appeal. I've seen the random rythem of single Bluelight members offering their own personalized spin on this or that random thing, then watch generations continue it and literally watch it evolve! It is fun to watch, I must admit.
I saw the title of this thread first, not expecting something worth clicking, but after gazing on the forum for which it originated, and than it's originator, inevitably, I myself, have been waiting for another discussion on this topic.
Lo and behold, thanks Jam for not disappointing.
Wish I had more to offer to the conversation than to say that it's one that has been intriguing my mind as of late, has almost a contagious appeal. I've seen the random rythem of single Bluelight members offering their own personalized spin on this or that random thing, then watch generations continue it and literally watch it evolve! It is fun to watch, I must admit.
ebola?
Bluelight Crew
>>a satire of how by overusing conversational setpieces to "fit in" within a certain group, you show that as conformity rises, the signal:noise ratio plummets. >>
How many of us know that it's satire?
How many of us know that it's satire?
BurnOneDown
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2007
- Messages
- 453
Obyron said:
And then try and get someone to talk to you about something that is really important on a personal level, something that is worth talking about to the individual. Nobody wants to do it.
qwe
Bluelight Crew
fnord
Obyron
Bluelight Crew
BurnOneDown said:
If I were giving a jaded answer to this I'd say, "Don't worry, most people aren't that interesting anyway," but I don't really believe that's true. In a lot of cases it is, but not in most. There are various reasons for this that could be a thread of their own, but I think the most basic ones boil down to trusting your fellow man, and knowing how to have a conversation-- which is most definitely an educational trait. Don't hold me to rigorous standards of proof on this paragraph, because I'm typing it while I think about it. I reserve the right to disagree with myself in 5 or 10 posts.
ebola? said:
Not enough, man, not enough.
Rated E said:
"Meme" is a word that has fairly well been hijacked. A meme is a unit of cultural evolution, or, put simpler, it's a pattern of thought. Dawkins posited the meme as the unit of social evolution to further illustrate his point that the gene is the unit of biological evolution, NOT the animal itself (which was, and partly still is, a revolutionary idea, depending on whether you're talking to Stephen Jay Gould).
The_Idler
Bluelighter
meta-irony
Jamshyd
Bluelight Crew
Lol.
Ok, let's get back on topic (or try) or else this goes into the lounge-shredder.
Ok, let's get back on topic (or try) or else this goes into the lounge-shredder.
BurnOneDown
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2007
- Messages
- 453
Obyron said:
People like to talk about the weather or the ball game because they don't think about important personal matters and therefore don't have an opinion on them, at least in America. The majority avoid discussion of original thought because they are extremely ineffective at thinking for themselves and afraid to expose such a basic, critical inability. Memes such as, the weather or 'the ball game' are topics that everyone can talk about without communicating. Communicating is dangerous because it makes it hard not to reveal that you can't think for yourself.
Obyron
Bluelight Crew
^^ That was pretty much my point. Such meatspace conversational memes as the weather, basic current events, etc. are "safe" topics that one can talk about in order to seem sociable without being expected to be particularly insightful or interesting. They allow you to be friendly without having to drop the mask and show people you're just not that bright.
I'll give people a pass on "the game" and sports conversation in general, since I do believe it's a relevant topic, and it depends on the people. It's the same as any other topic really, because you have people who just use it as a desperate grab at something to talk about ("Uh, did you see that game? Yeah, that was a good game..."), but you also have a lot of people who make well-thought out observations (strength of schedules, strategic thinking, coaching style, recruiting choices, etc.) that show they're actually THINKING about the topic.
Any vapid conversation about any topic sinks to the level of "meme-slinging" when the participants are just going through the motions to talk for the sake of talking, but don't actually care what they're saying or hearing. It's like... The Sims. Vague little imaginary characters wander up to each other and chatter unintelligible bullshit at one another-- any such bullshit, it doesn't matter-- because it raises their "social score." The REALLY fucked up thing about this is that not only do we all know people just like this, but I guarantee you we've all done it. I die a little inside every time I find myself talking about "the economy" when I really don't give that much of a fuck, and wish everyone might pop a little E so we can all sit down and actually fucking TALK ABOUT SOMETHING.
A pithy aphorism that I heard and immediately stole says: "Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
It's not like the people who sit around and have bullshit sessions like this are any smarter than anyone else. Believe me, when I first started college I was a philosophy major, and I met a lot of absolute certifiable morons. BUT, generally speaking, over time, actually exercising your analytical muscles is going to serve you better and you keep you sharper than defaulting to the same old bullshit. We're all better served in terms of mental health by having thoughtful conversations, even if they're not amazing or special conversations. They can't all be home runs.
I'll give people a pass on "the game" and sports conversation in general, since I do believe it's a relevant topic, and it depends on the people. It's the same as any other topic really, because you have people who just use it as a desperate grab at something to talk about ("Uh, did you see that game? Yeah, that was a good game..."), but you also have a lot of people who make well-thought out observations (strength of schedules, strategic thinking, coaching style, recruiting choices, etc.) that show they're actually THINKING about the topic.
Any vapid conversation about any topic sinks to the level of "meme-slinging" when the participants are just going through the motions to talk for the sake of talking, but don't actually care what they're saying or hearing. It's like... The Sims. Vague little imaginary characters wander up to each other and chatter unintelligible bullshit at one another-- any such bullshit, it doesn't matter-- because it raises their "social score." The REALLY fucked up thing about this is that not only do we all know people just like this, but I guarantee you we've all done it. I die a little inside every time I find myself talking about "the economy" when I really don't give that much of a fuck, and wish everyone might pop a little E so we can all sit down and actually fucking TALK ABOUT SOMETHING.
A pithy aphorism that I heard and immediately stole says: "Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
It's not like the people who sit around and have bullshit sessions like this are any smarter than anyone else. Believe me, when I first started college I was a philosophy major, and I met a lot of absolute certifiable morons. BUT, generally speaking, over time, actually exercising your analytical muscles is going to serve you better and you keep you sharper than defaulting to the same old bullshit. We're all better served in terms of mental health by having thoughtful conversations, even if they're not amazing or special conversations. They can't all be home runs.
^ Complaining about conversation pieces such as "how about this weather?" and "how about that game last night?", is also somewhat a meme. I mean really, I've heard a lot of people complain about this stuff already. Can we TALK ABOUT SOMETHING.
I see what you're saying. While I do hate it when people go through the motions like that, I think it can serve a purpose. For example, when I'm talking to someone who I don't know very well, I might use a tired old conversation set piece, since I don't know what else they might like to talk about, yet. Something that annoys me more than a general little "how about this weather?", is when someone who I don't know all that well starts talking about different models and makes of cars, even though I didn't consciously express any sort of interest in cars beyond the fact that they carry me to various destinations. It shows a lack of awareness of what I'm like as a person, and what I'm interested in.
I don't walk up to an acquaintance and start talking about the fragility of life or asking "what is consciousness?". Sometimes it might serve better to test the waters with a mindless piece of weather analysis. This way you can observe the person's tone and expression and make guesses about what their personality is like.
However, when close friends are still using such things in conversation, I might start to wonder why we are still friends if we have nothing to talk about, or whether we are as close as I thought.
lol
I see what you're saying. While I do hate it when people go through the motions like that, I think it can serve a purpose. For example, when I'm talking to someone who I don't know very well, I might use a tired old conversation set piece, since I don't know what else they might like to talk about, yet. Something that annoys me more than a general little "how about this weather?", is when someone who I don't know all that well starts talking about different models and makes of cars, even though I didn't consciously express any sort of interest in cars beyond the fact that they carry me to various destinations. It shows a lack of awareness of what I'm like as a person, and what I'm interested in.
I don't walk up to an acquaintance and start talking about the fragility of life or asking "what is consciousness?". Sometimes it might serve better to test the waters with a mindless piece of weather analysis. This way you can observe the person's tone and expression and make guesses about what their personality is like.
However, when close friends are still using such things in conversation, I might start to wonder why we are still friends if we have nothing to talk about, or whether we are as close as I thought.
neonads said:
lol