Project Vision 21

Not all methods of conveying ideas are suitable for conveying the same level of ideas. Certain ideas, certain conversations, and certain topics require a certain depth of language that precisely allows sharing “deep” ideas (not to be confused with “academic” ideas), that is, that which is the source of the meaning of life and the foundation of that meaning.

But today, all dialogue begins and ends with a meme. “Meme” no longer in its original meaning of "unit of cultural information shared and disseminated by imitation" (Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, 1976), but “meme” in the practical meaning of any funny image that serves to express emotions or desires, regardless of the origin of the image.

The problem, obviously, is not the use of memes. The problem arises when all language and all communication are reduced to just memes, be it images, abbreviations, or expressions repeated and used so many times that they no longer have any semantic value.

In this context, all dialogue is reduced to what can be answered by means of a meme and everything that does not have a meme as an answer is simply ignored, in the double sense of not paying attention to it and lacking knowledge of the subject.

Even worse, to ask another person a question without using memes, you must first wait for that other person to review all their social media messages. And when the opportunity to ask a question finally arrives, the response will almost inevitably be a meme that, in the opinion of the respondent, appropriately fits the response needed at the time.

And even worse than the worst, those same memes are unscrupulously used to express feelings on social networks that one previously expressed (if at all) with great care or in a more reserved manner. Did someone fight with their partner? Memes reveal the details to us. Is anyone on vacation at a resort? The entire story is told with memes.

This memelogical life reduces life and language to its minimal expression of superficiality, that is, where the other, the interlocutor, is minimally recognized, and where the expressive capacities of human languages are minimally used. Therefore, those existential issues that make humans human are excluded from the dialogue.

And even worse than the worst of the worst, due to the ease of creating, copying, and sharing memes, many people assume that this gives them the right to "memefy" all dialogue and all conversation in which they participate, infantilizing (in the sense derogatory of the term) that dialogue.

So, when life hits us in such a way that there is no possible meme that can serve us, when life and death, and meaning and nonsense intertwine, when plans, goals and intentions must be thought, at that very moment, we no longer know what to say or think because we have not developed the ability to un-memefy ourselves. 

There are in our soul, in our mind, in our spirit and in our heart innumerable expressions inexpressible with memes.