Constrained Bliss Point » South Park http://www.constrainedblisspoint.com where the social welfare function meets the grand utility possibilities frontier Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:15:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Meme stickiness http://www.constrainedblisspoint.com/2010/02/meme-stickiness/ http://www.constrainedblisspoint.com/2010/02/meme-stickiness/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:59:45 +0000 ftobia http://www.constrainedblisspoint.com/?p=644 Memes are little replicators, kind of like genes for culture (or ideas or general mind-things). Memes have a few properties, like how transmittable they are, or how “attractive” they are to the mind they occupy. Like that song you just can’t get out of your head, some memes are maddeningly sticky. For reasons unclear to me, one meme occupying my brain is bent on expressing itself through the medium of the blagoweb. You’ve been warned.

I’ve had Lady Gaga stuck in my head all week. Frakking Poker Face. It started innocently enough, I was watching South Park and Cartman was Rock-Banding it up. He was hilarious enough that I had to watch the clip a few more times on the YouTube. By that time, it was probably already too late.

This song is addicting on a dangerous level. I think there are at least three parts that are independently catchy — basically all the repeating parts: the opening mah-mah-mah-mah, the repetition of po-po-po-poker face, and the can’t-read-my can’t-read-my part, for those of you keeping track at home. Now, I wasn’t planning on writing about Lady Gaga. I don’t know firsthand how good her albums are. I won’t comment on whether I think all her hype is justified. I just know that forces acting beyond my control are propagating this absurdity over the intertubes.

The meme made me do it.

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