Behold, the meme (from Wikipedia):
A meme (pronounced /miːm or mɛm/) consists of any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity. Memes propagate themselves and can move through a "culture" in a manner similar to the behavior of a virus. As a unit of cultural evolution, a meme in some ways resembles a gene.
Neal Stephenson wrote what is, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant books of all time based on the premise of a "Killer Meme" called Snowcrash that would zap your brain to bits if you came into contact with it in the Metaverse (his version of the web, before the web was the web). The title and the meme, btw, were inspired based on the Mac's crash dynamic - which caused the screen to go all "snowy".
Stephenson is brilliant, and if you haven't read Snowcrash, you owe it to mankind to put down your mouse and go right now to your local BookWareHouse and get it. Come back when you're done.
As an active participant (and enabler) of the Information Age, I am particularly susceptible to memes, both large and small. Some are extremely annoying, others can be kinda hilarious. I thought it would be fun, therefore, to list out my favorite in this, my semi-regular weekend Off-Topic post.
