From: Hernan Silberman (hernan@well.com)
Date: Fri 28 Feb 2003 - 21:02:33 GMT
> Ughhhh! Did you have to use THAT song as an example? I only live a short
> distance from the "Mouse Ears" and I've been there too many times. I haven't
> been there in years, yet I've probably been on the Small World ride at
> Disneyworld more times than a good portion of the individuals on this list.
> You would have to have had the context of a Floridian with often visiting
> relatives to grok the desparation behind my kneejerk dislike of "that song".
> Thus that "meme" isn't the same in my head as it would be in the head of
> somebody who just "experienced" it once during a "lovely" vacation in
> February when the temperature at Disney wouldn't peel paint or skin, like it
> would in August.
>
> The "Small World" song may be in both our heads, but it means something
> probably much different to me than you. I don't know how much can be
> abstracted out between us.
Meaning is irrelevant. Regardless of what this meme means to us, we will
likely find ourselves humming it and passing it along into other brains.
To you it may be the signature of an evil corporation hellbent on world
domination, to me it may mean G-D-G-G7-C-D-G, and some people will find
themselves humming (and spreading) it before they're actually aware of
it, a very interesting feature of this meme. The other memes already in
your brain might affect the chances of this particular meme's success
there, but I think meaning is irrelevant unless you interpret meaning as
the collective influence of the other memes already squatting in your
brain.
hernan
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