The Meme Is Mightier Than The Sword: How Myths & Memes Rule the World
I still have the first meme I ever downloaded. The summer of 2011, and I’d just bought my first iPhone. Back then there were only about a hundred memes in public consciousness, mostly black and white slabs of digital sarcasm.
Memes have come a long way since then, not just in design, but in sheer volume. As you’re reading this, another thousand have been launched into the digital stratosphere.
I recall one of the first internet memes. The dancing baby from Ally McBeal. It set the internet on fire, and if you think it’s silly now, most of us thought the same back in 1996.
Memes are now the go-to method of communication for many. The term has been around since Ethologist (no, not an Ethereum maxi- it’s the study of animal behavior) and author Richard Dawkins coined it in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. He used the word to refer to phenomena that spread from person to person within a specific culture.
Bathroom wall graffiti, chain letters, even yelling out “Rick James bitch!” are all ways…
