Memes - Mind Viruses

Greetings and Lamentations,

"Meme" (pronounced meem) - a noun, described as a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes. Coined by Richard Dawkins, it is an idea considered as a replicator, especially with the connotation that memes parasitize people into propogating them, much as viruses do. Memes can be considered a unit of cultural evolution. Some ideas can evolve in a way analogous to biological evolution, and while some ideas survive better than some, others can mutate through cultural filters, and can combine with other ideas to form new ideas. (poorly paraphrased from dictionary.com)

With the cultural phenomenon of so called "Real Life Super Heroes" combined with the current cult of celebrity, and the opportunities the Internet provides, I believe an opportunity exists that has never been before. The theory of "Emergence" finds an emergent behavior can appear when a number of simple agents operate in an environment, forming more complex behaviors as a collective. (Wikipedia)

With Real Life Super Heroes (RLSH) as an emergent cultural phenomenon, and no end of movies celebrating their comic book source material in near sight, a chance to influence the collective subconcious of Internet savvy, culturally aware flexible minds is present.

If there are RLSH, and their complimentary Villians (if only to challenge them intellectually), then perhaps there is an opening for the archtype "Mad Scientist". A rich cultural laboratory of thoughts exist to be influenced, and learned from.

I believe in this future of avatars, heroic, or not so heroic, the meme is;

Create an Identity, and Find Yourself.

Where did you hear that before? This blog? Is it working yet? Digest the meme, propogate the meme. Evolve the meme. Bear witness to the emergence as thousands of minds come together in thought, and then in real world actions.

With Splendid Horror Unfolding,
-M