Meme Research Lab

[freetrader]

This is where we discuss the fledgling new Science of Memes, and all its implications.
This is not the place to create actual memes - for that you should head over to the MEME FACTORY.

If you are afflicted by a particular virulent meme and seek a remedy, we may suggest some more-or-less experimental methods of self-treatment.

You may wonder what sort of qualifications are needed to partake in this discourse, but if you do, you might need to ask yourself: Am I in the wrong place?

 

[freetrader]

I see you have your lab coat - YES!

Our corporate sponsors have just assigned our first research topic:

Let's get to work!

 

[AdrianX]

This video belongs here.

 

[Erik Hedman]

So in reality, the bitcoin wars is just about symbiotic thought germs

 

[freetrader]

Today, while trying to avoid useful work, I stumbled on this which I thought could perhaps be useful for those of us who might want to manufacture memes containing more memes. Perhaps this sort of recursion could be employed usefully in the "bitcoin wars", as @Erik Hedman calls them. Without further ado, fellow memeticists:

http://blog.brian.jp/python/png/2016/07/07/file-fun-with-pyhon.html

(note the appropriate use of Doge's mascot in that article)

I've wracked my brain for appropriate terms on what to call this new process, and have come up with a few candidates: "meme crystallization", "meme distillation" (I particular like this because I know a few of us enjoy high spirits), or xzibitography.

 

[lunar]

Memefication, Memology or simply Practising the art of Memery.?...

But you should all remember.

 

[Roger_Murdock]

I'm not crazy about the caption, but maybe somebody else can come up with something better. I was thinking there might be a way to work in a good "Core" / "cork" pun. And maybe more closely track the actual movie quote:

"Ruprecht. Don't take the cork off the fork."

"Why is the cork on the fork?"

"To prevent him hurting himself... and others."

So maybe something along the lines of "to prevent the network hurting itself." I don't know. The real point of this post is that if any of you young'uns haven't seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels yet, you should. It's a classic.

 

[Zangelbert Bingledack]

What is the definition of a meme? Google gives:

1. an element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means. (Broad definition)
2. an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations. (Narrow definition)

The broad definition seems to include things like language, facial expressions, tones of voice, gestures, cuisines, rituals, argument styles, fashion, traditional practices and institutions (marriage, etc.), and even "cool" ways of chugging a can of soda.

Research on the narrow type of meme would be more like for marketing and persuasive purposes. I guess this thread covers both?

 

[lunar]

I would not be surprised to find they had similar properties to ear worms
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/12/148460545/why-that-song-gets-stuck-in-your-head

Research suggests that there may be psychological reasons why some songs are more likely to stick, including memory triggers, emotional states and even stress.

In a 2006 book by Daniel Levitin entitled This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, he states that research has shown musicians and people with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are more likely to suffer from earworm attacks.

Perhaps artists and authors are more susceptible to Meme

In Arthur C. Clarke's 1957 science fiction short story "The Ultimate Melody", a scientist, Gilbert Lister, develops the ultimate melody – one that so compels the brain that its listener becomes completely and forever enraptured by it.

Now i'm wondering if it were possible to create the perfect meme? One that spread like a virus and could never be forgotten?

 

[freetrader]

I'm so happy to see so many labcoats in here. Welcome all and sundry.
Let me expend a few words.

@Zangelbert Bingledack pondered:

Research on the narrow type of meme would be more like for marketing and persuasive purposes. I guess this thread covers both?

It does, it does indeed. If you want, you can set up a desk for that over here, and bring all the equipment you need. In case you may need computing equipment, I'm told we have an almost idle Ethereum blockchain which is a Turing machine. I'm afraid someone's lock'd it, but it usually kicks back into action if you unjam it with a fork. Vitalik will tell you all about it if you prod him, and will get you back up and running if it runs out of gas.

@Roger_Murdock , that looks like a mighty hazardous meme. Careful, next thing we know OSHA's on our doorstep. We should definitely look into explicit safety warnings like "do not try this at home". I'll have you know that our materials engineering division has already achieved soft spoons, and they keep telling us that the tooling for a soft fork should be ready in only Two Weeks.

any of you young'uns haven't seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels yet, you should.

Flattery of course gets you nowhere, but memetics is indeed a young science, and movie and TV series recommendations go a long way.That might be because of how recent generations are taking new approaches to literacy. I am not suggesting any of us should watch moving pictures instead of doing valuable memetics research.
The question of whether a fork that has been uncorked can again be (fc)orked, is an interesting one. I've contacted some field investigators who might know about this sort of thing, and am awaiting a response.

@lunar : Some believe that the quest for the perfect meme is directly related to the answer to life the universe and everything. It is very much the P = NP problem of our field, and I mention this only since there is a Ð42,000 prize (*) waiting for anyone who can rigorously prove the equivalence (not P = NP, however if you can prove that please post it here first!) Remember though, a proof has to pass peer review.
I would also heartily encourage anyone to read Neil Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" if you haven't already. Not going to spoil anything, but I do believe that it contains some related ideas and is just damn fine literature regardless. Had I known then that the term "Diamond Age" was first coined by Merkle himself... perhaps I would have bought some Bitcoins when I first heard about them :-|

(*) prize can be awarded only once, and is not payable in any fork of Ð (we like to keep things ⊂ ℝ)

^ Another satisfied nTimeLock transaction user.
[doublepost=1468233471,1468232368][/doublepost]My sincere thanks to whoever swayed the poll. It looks like the 'Yes' votes have it, and I am open to new poll suggestions.

 

[freetrader]

Ok, not sure how to handle this meme. Is it a new type - self-defeating?
It definitely has a Zen quality about it.

 

[freetrader]

Hmm, I just opened the morning paper and there's this full page ad suggesting that Bitcoin and Memetics might have something to do with each other after all.

https://github.com/BTCfork/BTC-Forks-Roadmap/blob/master/Proposals/BTC Forks Roadmap Proposal.md

The problem seems to be that no-one can make much sense of it yet.
Perhaps more research is needed on to understand this "evolve-through-memes" gobbledigook.
Are the authors saying Bitcoin is some kind of Selfish Gene of Money, able to permute and adapt under environmental conditions? Could it go viral and destroy us all? I hope not.

 

[freetrader]

Rumor has it that meme researchers here have been slacking. Praise Bob!

However, a diligent digital assistant has found a document of interest, just as I was contemplating something along these lines:

Are memes the fables of the 21st century?
Are we willing to entertain some thoughts only if they are brought to us by some harmless animal actors?

Not-so-direct evidence, but at least the author mentions memes:
http://search.proquest.com/openview/fcca9c3f1fc60016af48551fcadd753b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar

 

[Bagatell]

This one has legs.

Praise Bob and his disciple @awemany

 

[AdrianX]

I was listening to this talk while was doing a a more menial task.

I can highly recommend it.

It's a real meme using the definition by Richard Dawkins - not a cat video meme.

it's pertinent to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Unlimited.

 

[Mengerian]

Interesting video on the theory of memetic propaganda:

 

[AdrianX]

This is interesting: I think the overall point of the video could have validity however I was most shocked to see r/bitcoin framing the debate - pro big block supporters being anti-bitcoin and small block proponents being pro-bitcoin. WTF.

 

[Bagatell]

@AdrianX We're famous!

--

Pope Francis: Fake news is like getting sexually aroused by faeces

Is he calling us dipshits?

 

[freetrader]

This is a good subject for a chat at the meme lab watercooler.

First of all, how Bitcoin memes spread from the political domain into the protocol improvement domain.

This could be looked at in the context of

• what makes money great (or rather - a great money)
  
• what makes politics great (a form of public entertainment mostly nowadays?)
• how money and politics are unavoidably mixed up

Then there is the question of timing, and how coat-tailing on existing memes is becoming another political strategy in itself. A form of imitation / mimicry in action?

The aim of scaling in itself is to achieve greatness ("make Bitcoin great").

So making Bitcoin great can be evaluated in terms of effectiveness of scaling solutions.

Once the 1MB wall has fallen and we are back to the original 32MB blocksize limit, I guess we can say that the original scaling potential has been restored (the "again" part).

Here's to achieving that!