An Elegant Sufficiency, or the Curious Case of a Victorian Meme (2018)

Re:An Elegant Sufficiency, or the Curious Case of a Victoria... by jfengel on Friday May 14, 2021 @04:28PM (#27159343)

I don't think it's bafflement, exactly, but an interest in knowing more. There are linguists who study that, including playground rhymes.

It's certain that they propagate orally, but it's an open question of why some things propagate and others don't. Just what is it that took one phrase from that poem and turned into into an increasingly elaborate set of semi-codified structures? The oral transmission puts limits on how fast and under what circumstances it can spread: it requires direct person-to-person contact rather than broadcast.

It's the tip of a ton of research that they only alluded to, and would be curious to know more.

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Re:An Elegant Sufficiency, or the Curious Case of a Victoria... by xtiansimon on Saturday May 15, 2021 @10:43AM (#27165636)

I agree, "why some things propagate and others don't" is a very interesting question. I enjoy contemplating on the variety of propagating things inductively--jokes, poetic phrases, turn of phrase, but also skills, techniques, basic knowledge--just say the phrase Org Mode sets up the cult of the organized for preaching the gospel of Emacs. haha.

Though, my curiosity in meme propagation is preempted by the curious rejection of memetics as explanation for social or psychological phenomena outside of its adherents.

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