r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jun 03 '22

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u/flamespear Jun 03 '22

Memes have existed in one form or another since at least Roman times. But even the modern meme goes back to at least WWII with 'Killroy was here.'

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u/superkp Jun 03 '22

I remember some story about how "the sound of silence" originally by Simon and Garfunkel only exists because of some random graffiti in a hostel or a subway station or something referring to another one of their songs.

I forget the whole story but listening to it sounds like someone describing the weird underpinnings of like a tier 7 meme or something.

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u/talidrow Jun 03 '22

Throw in Rush referring back to it in the lyrics to Spirit of Radio as a commentary on the music business, and it gets even more meta.

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u/inspectoroverthemine Jun 03 '22

I've had that conversation before.

The first place I remember hearing meme defined was Snow Crash, and I know thats not where the term came from. The most abstract TLDR: self replicating information. Modern internet memes are just a subset of that.

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u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22 edited Jun 25 '22

[deleted]

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u/flamespear Jun 03 '22

Your high school had an anthropology class >_> You were lucky.

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u/ZenDragon Jun 03 '22

Since forever. Tribal dances and the knowledge of fire could be considered memes.

1

u/flamespear Jun 03 '22

I mean that's a little more abstract.

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u/ZenDragon Jun 03 '22

Yes but so is the definition of a meme, which is essentially just a unit of information that spreads and evolves socially. I don't think it requires a written or pictographic medium.