Prologue Part One: Terms Defined.

I'm going to edit this page whenever new terms come up. It's short now, but as it gets bigger the glossary will seem like a less absurd idea.  

I try to refrain from just giving a straight up definition, it's a nihilist thing to do with the way words work, so this glossary is going to be a little weird.  I'm going to use the term in my description of my thoughts on the term, and hopefully you'll get the impression of what it means from reading it.

Glossary:

I. Memes

II. Toolbelt

I, Memes

In this blog I'm going to use the word meme pretty frequently, and probably not in a manner intended by its creators.  When I say meme, I'm talking about a self replicating social construct.  This means anything from children's games to Islamic Fundamentalism.

You weren't born knowing anything much beyond which end of you food goes into and how to operate a pair of lungs.  Pretty much everything else, you know it because you've learned it or figured it out based on things you've learned.

So what gets learned?  What traits get an idea spread?  Mix a little biology into the question because biology has some good questions to ask when you are talking about a trait spreading through a community.  You'll get something like "What's an idea's reproductive cycle like?"

I've got a little sister who is much younger than me, and she and her friends do eenie meenie miney moe to figure out who's "it" when they play tag.  She learned that meme when someone used it for a game of tag, and she bothered to remember it because it was useful and easy to remember.  

Putting that into more useful and easy to remember terms, memes replicate themselves when:

1: There's a reason for people to share it

2:  There's a reason for people to remember it.

3: It's not too difficult to retain that meme.

My little sister didn't learn eenie meenie miney moe from me.  I haven't even thought about eenie meenie miney moe in years, and will probably never use it again.  The instance of eenie meenie miney moe in me is dead.  I can't do a list of ways that a meme lives or dies, because that information is usually specific to the meme, but one of the main causes of meme death is, like with eenie meenie miney moe, ceasing to be useful.

II. Toolbelt

You are expected to react quickly, or you'll be thought slow.  Somebody says hello, you say hello back.  It's unrealistic to expect people to come up with a reply every time somebody says hello, and you are people, so you've added hello to your toolbox and just say hello back.

Sorry I flipped you.  I take self defense very seriously.  When someone touches me unexpectedly, I flip them.  I don't even think about it, it's just in my toolbelt

I shouldn't be yelling at you, sorry.  I left my managing entitled assholes toolbelt on.  I'll be more mindful from now on.