Yet Another Meme

Memetics has been labelled by critics as cocktail party pseudo science. The kind of thing the middle class discussed to sound intellectual. When I first read about Memetics I saw it as an interesting analogue of existing sociological principles which have fascinated me for years. Memetics did for sociology what A Brief History of Time did for astrophysics, making it accessible to those who otherwise would have a rough time conceptualising some of the fundamentals.

The greatest failing of Memetics is that it is simply a metaphor and not a new science. As such, it will never develop a following in any professional circles and is doomed to be a relic of pop-culture. Now as passé as membership in the Church of the Sub-Genius, Zendik Farm, or New Labour, Memetics has followed its’ own prescribed path and mutated to assure its’ own self-replication. It now takes the form of blogging “memes”, sort of a 21st century chain letter for exhibitionists and voyeurs. Naturally we’re happy to fill one out and pass it on!

For those interested in further study, I would recommend Thought Contagion by Aaron Lynch.

1. I have a literal fear of zombies. Not just the people who go through life without purpose, but the walking dead. I know it’s irrational, but I can’t get over it. I’ve studied every zombie movie, book, and video game trying to learn as much as I can, hoping that I’ll retain the information when the attack comes. Most people have an image of their personal dream house. Mine includes steel shuddered windows, a central courtyard for arable crops, gun towers, a “last-hope” bunker, and 10-15 years supply of rations. Ludicrous yes, but Freya still has to hold my hand when I play Resident Evil.

2. I used to have hair and Freya used to like Batman…a lot!

3. a.) I can say the ABCs backwards AND forward. b.) I failed freshmen math despite my dad having a PhD in mathematics partially because of learning my ZYXs during class time rather than my A2 + B2 = C2.

4. I’ve lived in five time-zones.

5. Freya and I intend to donate our bodies to the Forensic Anthropology Center in Knoxville, Tennessee for forensic crime research (After we die of course. I certainly wouldn't go there while alive. Knoxville that is!). The work they do there is neither pleasant nor pretty, but it has done more for the cause of solving violent crime than any other research facility in the world. This is the only place doing this form of research and in a world so lacking of justice, it is vital for their work to continue.
Freyas note: Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie passed this onto me! Paul and I are not entirely au fait with these, but apparently you have to pass this meme onto five other people, somewhat like one of those letters that promise you piles of money, so, to perpetuate this chain, I am passing this onto five other food bloggers:
Shaun, Winter Skies, Kitchen Aglow
Ulrike at Kuchenlatein
D-Man at Sourdough Monkey Wrangler (if for no other reason than his cool name)
Joyce at Foodie Fumblings
Katie at Thyme for Cooking
Hopefully none of you guys have been meme'd already. If you have, then please be civil and gently direct us towards your already meme'd post. If not, then be a love and tell us five things about yourself and then find five bloggers who haven't been meme'd (this is the hard part!).