Sunday, January 16, 2011

Media, Memes, McDonalds

How many repetitions make a truth?  My thoughts at the moment seem to relate heavily to the idea of memes.  I see that while the non-advertising population is only just now becoming fond of the meme theory, advertisers have understood it for a long time.  Brand loyalty is most often primarily attributable to advertising intensity.  Distribution determines sales.  Shelf space in stores will always sell more units, even it's fart-flavored gummy fries on the shelf.  How many repetitions make a truth.

It's not quality, interest, or mystique that drives consumption, but instead burned pathologies on the surface of the human brain.  Scars on the psyche.  I've spent quite a bit of time trying to comprehend forgetting things like the McDonald's logo, and there's no way.  This type of symbol was impressed upon me starting at the same time I was being breastfed.  To be part of society is to be branded, and the worst part is that we aren't given one brand, but hundreds.  All of them are scarred onto the surface of our thoughts.

I think that the world's current paradigm is meta-relational, though.  Strong symbols and icons allow us to quicker reference things, digitize complex ideas and use them to communicate.  The corporate world has illuminated a human desire to contextualize the universe as simply and elegantly as possible.  The desire to place all people within the brackets of one idea is growing, and things like the internet (while riddled with redundant and incorrect information) are allowing us to throw together the conflict of all ideas in the hopes that equilibrium or enlightenment may be obtained.  That's the idea, right?

Unfortunately, the idea of living well with regards to a single idea is broken by consumerism.  I've always reacted negatively to organized religion, but I think our world would be lucky to only suffer the branding of spiritual dogma and icon.  Consumerism is the new unity on our planet, slowly bringing everyone closer to a 'middle class'.  The way of the over industrialized nation has seduced too many into believing that they would be moving up by obtaining more things, absorbing more nonessential needs into their life's lexicon.  Our being united in the unquenchable desire for stuff is the enemy of real culture, and all valuable and ancient wisdom will be lost by the end of the 21st century.