What causes a particular meme to take the Internet by storm, dominating image boards and inspiring hundreds of variations, while another one languishes?
It’s a tantalizing question in the nascent field of meme theory, and not just because the answer could shed light on our collective online subconscious. It’s also possible that research into it could eventually explain broader aspects of cultural consumption—why an entire work, perhaps even a novel or a painting, might gain a following, flop, or eventually fade into obscurity.
Louis C.K.’s monologue about the downside of smartphones gets at the crux of the issue. “You need to build an ability to just be yourself and not be doing something,” he told Conan O’Brien in 2013. “That’s what the phones are taking away, is the ability to just sit there. That’s being a person.” In an effort to preserve the lost art of solitary thinking, it’s now de rigueur for people to go on a digital detox by quitting social media or imposing a no-screens rule after 6 p.m.
It’s still more than three months until finals, but there’s a whiff of panic in the air of the Edinburgh student flat where I’m having dinner. “Everybody’s feeling it,” says Suzy. Feeling what? “The pressure. There’s just so much pressure.” About what? Your exams? Or what to do next?
“Everything. I shouldn’t even be here. I didn’t even want to go to university but everyone said I should. And the work! It’s just… there’s so much of it! I feel like I wouldn’t even have a chance if it wasn’t for modafinil.”
Some of the most infuriating and stabbing pain is caused by nothing but a thin sheet of paper. Scientific American editor Ferris Jabr explains why the page of a book can sometimes cause more anguish than a blade.
Canadian television viewers will no longer be forced to pay for vast numbers of channels they do not watch, the country’s broadcast regulator said in a sweeping ruling on Thursday.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said cable and satellite providers had to offer viewers an affordable basic package and allow them to choose additional channels.
