I'm a Big Dummy

After about 24 hours of a dead computer at work, I'm finally back to the land of the living! It's unbelievable how much of a slave I am to my computer, especially at work. It seems that should be the other way around, but I can tell you, I can't do anything at work without my computer. Thankfully, it was only (!) the hard drive that died. Everything now seems to be back to near normal, so I can work (and blog) just like old times.

So, something has been really bugging me lately. Everyone in blog land keeps throwing the word meme around, especially with the "20 Questions" one going around now. I like reading everyone's questions and answers, but it was bugging the heck out of me that I was unfamiliar with the word meme. Is it a contraction of two words? What does it mean, really? What's its origin? Am I the only one who doesn't have a clue?

I probably am the only one who didn't know the word, which means I've just made a fool out of myself by publicly admitting it.

What disturbs me almost as much, though, is the definition I finally found (after giving in and looking it up on dictionary.com:

n : a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one generation to another by nongenetic means (as by imitation); "memes are the cultrual counterpart of genes"

I dunno. It seems kind of scary that everyone's passing around "the cultural counterpart of genes." It almost makes it sound as if everyone's swapping spit or something.

At least I know the word now.

Comments

[Todd]

I hate the word. It sounds so contrived, but I used it on my blog because I didn't know what else to call the 20 Questions thing.

[Todd]

The word doesn't bother me. It just was bothering me that I didn't know what it meant. It probably describes the whole blog question sharing thing pretty well. And it's a lot easier to say than "the whole blog question sharing thing." :)

[Scott-O-Rama]

Here's a better definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme