Evolution, Apple, Ipad, And Education: A Memeography Of A Monster Too Big To Fail

Cultural Studies http://csc.sagepub.com/ Critical Methodologies Evolution, Apple, iPad, and Education: A Memeography of a Monster Too Big to Fail Grant Kien Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies published online 26 November 2013 DOI: 10.1177/1532708613507893 The online version of this article can be found at: http://csc.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/11/22/1532708613507893 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com Additional services and information for Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies can be found at: Email Alerts: http://csc.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://csc.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav >> OnlineFirst Version of Record - Nov 26, 2013 What is This? Downloaded from csc.sagepub.com at SEIR on December 2, 2013 507893 research-article2013 CSCXXX10.1177/1532708613507893Cultural Studies <span class="symbol" cstyle="symbol">↔ Critical MethodologiesKien Article Evolution, Apple, iPad, and Education: A Memeography of a Monster Too Big to Fail Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies XX(X) 1­–11 © 2013 SAGE Publications Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1532708613507893 csc.sagepub.com Grant Kien1 Abstract Experimenting with a new interpretive methodology, Memeography, this article constructs an account of media experiences that go toward the construction of a sophisticated understanding of one’s place as a participant within the vast, confusing, globally networked media apparatus. The author works with the premise of Dawkin’s famous theory of memes as agents of cultural reproduction, and Aunger’s theory that electronic memes exist independently within the cybersphere. The goal of Memeography is, then, to document and understand the experiences, ideas, and sense-making processes of human actors within this complex machinic life-form, from a qualitative perspective. The work turns McLuhan’s theory of media as extensions of human beings on its head, claiming instead that humans are now appendages of the apparatus. The popular movies Artificial Intelligence, Surrogates, Caprica, Battlestar Galactica, District 9, and Avatar are used to exemplify key ideas. Keywords meme, memetics, internet, memeography From the vantage point of this writing (early in the year of 2012), our condition could hardly be more confirming for “Mayan Calendar Apocalypse” doomsayers. The global economy lurches from one national financial crisis to another. Access to quality public education in the United States is in a state of free fall, while at the same time pride in anti-intellectualist/anti-science sound bites and even cynical, willful deceit dominates what passes for political discussion in leading American mainstream media. Numerous nations continue sorting out what should come in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring. Speculations of a new war front opening up with Iran scroll constantly through U.S. media outlets. The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has taken on global proportions and routinely shuts down important areas of major cities. The global Anonymous hacker group continues on an almost daily basis to demonstrate its ability to expose the many failings of the most powerful law enforcement agencies in the world, illustrating what a truly fragile and vulnerable international “intelligence” system it really is. With the passing of Kim Jong-il, North Korea is in its most unstable period of transition in decades. However, perhaps more frightening and unsettling for everyday Americans than all of these other issues has been the loss of corporate tech messiah Steve Jobs. The technologically dependent masses peruse the contenders for next tech guru icon and wonder, “Who will now lead us t