Memes- Art of engineering

In this era of speed, information is available at just a click away. The ICE age or the age of Information, Communication, and Entertainment are the three most important aspects of the internet today.

Memes are ideas formed from an analogy that spread from one person to another within a culture or through multi-culture. Meme is a word that is short for mimene(from uncertain or unknown; perhaps mimesis + -eme): both words created by Richard Dawkins ) in his book The Selfish Gene. In the book, he explains how information related to a particular culture spreads.

Dawkins is one of the world's most controversial atheists and an Ethologist. He was a biologist and a popular science writer who composed ideas on evolution based on genetic levels and believed that the gene was responsible for mutation and evolution, not the individual species . He claimed that the natural selection happens within the gene level rather than the individual level. In his book, his fundamental ideology is that we, humans are a selfish being striving for the survival of the fittest. He believes all humans are born selfish and that empathy and generosity must be taught in order to live an altruistic life. Dawkins was also a staunch misbeliever of religion and states that religion is the world's greatest evil.

In today's world, we are familiar with one type of memes; internet memes. They are a subset of the generalized meme concept. Internet memes may contain an image, video, hyperlink, website or hashtag. It can be a passage, a phrase or just a word with some form of intentional mistake or error to ignite satire. Dawkins believes that an "internet meme" is the hijacking of an original idea and instead of transforming by random change and gradual spreading by a form of Darwinian selection, they are modified intentionally by human creativity and imagination. Unlike genetics(and Dawkins' original meaning of "meme"), internet memes are deliberately altered.

A meme can also act as an atomic unit to carry a single idea, to create awareness of a symbol or cultural practices. In order to carry them from one mind to another, memes take forms through writing, speech, gestures, and satirical themes. The creators of the memes have one purpose in mind; for it to self-replicate and mutate through popular usage.

Memetics or the study of memes is a subject that explores the concept of memes from a theoretical model to an evolutionary model. This topic is a controversial study as it has brought on criticism from many literary fronts . Some people believe that there is a concrete way of identifying how the concept of memes spread while others believe that this is basically a waste of time.

Memes are like propaganda; it self advertises the ideology the creator wants it to. More than speaking the truth it reflects the opinion of the creator., When a meme is created and released to the world through the internet, in order for the meme to gain popularity, it needs to stay in the minds of the people. THe more the people see it, remember it, talk about it, the more its propagation is. There are two stages to a memetic life cycle: transmission and retention. Retention is very important for memes to be successful. Only the successful memes remain and spread, and the unfit ones are forgotten. The meme pool and Gene pool are very similar in this nature as only the best ones survive. This similarity to natural selection is what Richard Dawkins talked about in his book, The selfish gene. The life of the meme is determined by the usage; the longer it stays, the higher the chances of its generation .

Since the concept of truth is not the point of memes, memes can have a negative effect when used poorly. Memes as such are not good or bad. It all depends on the person creating and what type of message the creator wants to send out to the world. Memes are used in all corners of the society. For example, let’s look at Hiter. Hitler used hate propaganda and memes to turn an entire society against a single race. The concept of memes existed before it was given a proper name. Hitler's ideology spread like wildfire across Germany and created the effect he intended.

Memes can play a vital role in politics too. In recent times, during the 2016 presidential election, alt-right extremists and white supremacists were successfully able to weaponize memes and use it as meme-warfare. The internet is such a place where people can take on an alternate ego, enabling them to do things they would normally never do in real life. It normalized and popularized radical white nationalist messages and it helped them spread to all corners of the world.

Memes are often created nowadays to manipulate society into thinking a certain way. Many studies are conducted to determine how effective these memes truly were. A recent study examined over 160 million images from various social media sites such as Twitter, Reddit, Gab and Facebook and found that the most popular memes are the ones hinting racism not so subtly. These memes helped the alt-right spread their misinformation and hate speeches towards a wider platform. The more views it got, the wider it spread. It didn't matter whether people agreed on it, the mere act of opening and viewing the memes were enough to influence the society.

Social media is a portal for meme creators. They target their audience very carefully by understanding their psychology to hit the mark based on humor or sentiment. Since most people spend around 2 hours a day on the internet, society revolves around what we view online. Our next day conversations include what we saw online yesterday. Memes can range from text, pictures and videos. When the viewers relate to a meme, it instantly latches onto their memories and makes the viewer share it or repost it, doing their part to spread the propaganda. Each viewer now is part of the propaganda.







References:


1. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Dawkins

2. https://www.resilience.org/stories/2017-08-08/the-dangerous-delusions-of-richard-dawkins/

3. https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/27/17760170/memes-good-behavioral-science-nazi-pepe

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme#Dawkins

5. https://sproutsocial.com/glossary/meme/

Jack of All trades, Master of None?

Some cook for fun, some for their profession and other because they have to.  Cooking can be the most basic of art forms to some, a hobby to many or way of life. Artists and cooks are more similar than we know. Both use art as a means to express themselves in a way words never can. Artists use a canvas, paint, color, palates, mixed media to create something that speaks of their personality. Cooks and culinary artists mix and color various raw ingredients into a final finished that has a unique aroma and taste. No two artists are the same. No two products of art can be the same. Cooking is believed to be a spiritual, meditative form of art that can satiate the mind, body and soul. It can be a therapeutic means to calm the energy to those indulging in it. It can create a sense of Zen and tranquility as we become oblivious of our surroundings.

In today's world where everything is a competition, everyone is part of the rat race, people want their talents and interests to be paraded around for many reasons. It can be the only way to gain popularity, market their talent and business or simply gain personal satisfaction.

A man of many talents, Francis Roddam or commonly known as Franc Roddam created the reality TV show MasterChef in 1990. He was a established English film  director, businessman, screenwriter, producer and publisher. Roddams life in Hollywood was not of great success. His many movies were not blockbuster hits as he liked to create realistic movies; to show that the grass is not in fact green on the other side. Like all struggling in the Hollywood industry, Roddam was determined to make his mark. He found success when he revolutionized the idea to democratize food. He created this competition to showcase the culinary talents of people in Europe.

Frank wanted people from every walk of life to collaborate under one roof to prove their talents worth. The success of the show was so tremendous that its format has been exported to 40 countries under the same MasterChef logo. This format is sold all over the world by the production company, Shine Group. 

The MasterChef competition is broadened into four different versions: the original MasterChef series, MasterChef: The Professionals, Celebrity MasterChef and Junior MasterChef. The Junior MasterChef is a version created for children aspiring to showcase their culinary skills and talent. Furthermore, Australia created a fifth version called MasterChef All-Stars, for former contestants to raise money for charity.

MasterChef is open to people of all categories : home cooks, amateurs, and professionals. Anyone with an interest and knowledge in cooking was welcome to participate in this competition. MasterChef U.S.A, aired on July 27,2010, is a competitive cooking reality show based on the original show created by Frank Roddam in the U.K. winner competes for $250,000 in cash, their own cookbook and a trophy. MasterChef India, similar to MasterChef U.S.A is an Indian competitive cooking show based on the original MasterChef U.K. It aired in 2010 on the channel Star Plus, produced by Colosseum Media Pvt. Ltd. The winner takes home ₹ 10,000,000 in cash, a chance to publish their own cookbook and have their own cookery show.

This reality show goes on for eight weeks in total airing from Monday-Friday. In the first six weeks, the first four episodes aired each week are known as heats. The winner of each heat is known as the quarter-finalist. Each week six contestants participate and a quarter-finalist is chosen at the end of the week. At the end of the week, the quarter-finalists compete with each other and the winner is chosen as the semi-finalist. At the end of the sixth week, all the  semi finalists compete with each other for the upcoming final two weeks. Contestants are evaluated based on the taste, visual and presentation of their final dish created. MasterChef has four events of competition and one chef is eliminated after the second and fourth event. This set of 4 events takes place over the period of 2 episodes. The events are : Mystery Box, Elimination Test, Team Challenge and Pressure Test. 

In the Mystery Box round, every contestant is given one box with the same ingredients. The task in hand is to create a dish in a fixed amount of time. The best dish is then selected by the judges based on taste, presentation and technique. In the elimination test, the remaining chef's are given 15 minutes to choose their ingredients from a pantry to create a dish. The judges then evaluate the dishes based on the requisites and select two winners. The winner of the previous round is given one advantage over the rest and the judges decide the chef with the least score to leave the show in this round. The third round, team challenge divides the contestants into 2 teams. Their task is to create a dish within the stipulated time. The last round , pressure test, is for the losing team. They compete with each other to create a complicated dish in a very small amount of time. Based on the taste, appearance and technique, each dish is judged and the losing chef is eliminated from the challenge. The rounds continue until there is a last man standing. He or She is given the title of Master Chef for that year and is deemed with the prestige of conducting their own cookery show along with a lump sum cash prize. 

This world phenomenon has had its share of bad luck too. In 2013, MasterChef was hit by accusations of sexual, mental and physical harassments by their former contestants. This was a turning point for the show as it received a lot of backlash from the media and the public. Also, being a reality show, people have come to realize that the show is scripted. Regardless of such allegations, Master Chef continues to be a staple in each and every household. 

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MasterChef_(British_TV_series)

2. https://www.masterchef.com/

3. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t1k5