« TED2008: Days 3 and 4 in Quotes | Main | Andrew Mwenda's newspaper, the Independent, now online »
03 March 2008
A new meme unfolds
Photo: David Geller/whatcounts
Memeticist Susan Blackmore uses the hotel-bathroom toilet-paper fold as an example of a useless meme -- a meme that has spread throughout the world, even though there is no human reason for it to exist. The persistence of this meme easily disproves the comfortable notion that we humans only spread ideas that are useful or interesting -- it shows that, once a meme takes on life, it spreads itself.
Inspired by Blackmore's research, origamist and TEDster Bruno Bowden created a combinatorial meme -- linking Blackmore's ideas with the sophisticated folding techniques discussed by origami master Robert J. Lang onstage at TED. See photo at left.
+ To learn more about dangerous memes, listen to
Dan Dennett's awesome 2002 TEDTalk >>
+ To learn more about toilet-paper origami, check out this devoted student of the art >>
+ To see what happened when Ze Frank was attacked by this meme on Day 4 of TED@Aspen, visit our Flickr set >>
Discuss this Blog Post
Loading Comments... 
Become a Fan of TED
on Facebook
Follow TED on Twitter:
@TEDNews | @TEDTalks
Subscribe to TED RSS feeds:
TED Blog | More RSS Options
Recent Comments
KrishnaBaalu on East vs. West -- the myths that mystify: Devdutt Pattanaik on TED.com
doorhanger on LHC back in action
doorhanger on LHC back in action
BiG007BosS on Meet Anwar Dafa-Alla, TED translator
jzurawell on LHC back in action
abhijitchauhan on East vs. West -- the myths that mystify: Devdutt Pattanaik on TED.com
CassieZ on Jim Fallon on CBS' Criminal Minds tonight!
satyadev on The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology: Pranav Mistry on TED.com
Restlesswriter on TED loves classical music
kvinkal on An interview with Pranav Mistry, the genius behind Sixth Sense
News from TED
Learn about TEDIndia conference >>
Find all our posts about TEDGlobal 2009 >>
Follow the TED Fellows blog >>
Throw your own TED-style event with TEDx >>
TED takeaway
TED ringtones:
TEDTalks Classic tune in [mp3] [m4r]
TEDTalks Phase II tune in [mp3] [m4r]
Subscribe to TED's weekly newsletter
Get the latest news on the TED Prize on TEDPrize.org >>
Archives
TED Bloggers
Chris Anderson | Curator
June Cohen | Director of TED Media
Amy Novogratz | TED Prize Director
Tom Rielly | Community
Bruno Giussani | TED European Director
Jason Wishnow | Director, Film + Video
Emily McManus | Editor, TED.com
Matthew Trost | Assistant Editor, TED.com
Shanna Carpenter | Writer and Community Organizer, TED.com
Diego Rodriguez | Guestblogger
Jane Wulf | TED Scribe
Blogs we watch
+ TEDPrize.org
+ TED Fellows blog
+ Thomas Dolby | TED Musical Director, blogging at ThomasDolby.com
+ Emeka Okafor | TEDAfrica Director, blogging at Timbuktu Chronicles and Africa Unchained
+ The indispensable Global Voices
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Powered by Movable Type
