Communication is Viral
128
communication is viral Lucas Rizoli Un-Distinguished Lecture Series 2007-01-19
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An exploration of many metaphors applied to the movement of ideas, the idea as the infallible word of a god, as a weapon, as a space, and recently, the idea as a biological force, how they have affected and been affected by history and technology. From the Un-Distinguished Lecture Series (http://ws.cs.ubc.ca/~udls/). The talk was given Jan. 19, 2007.
Transcript of Communication is Viral
communication is viral
Lucas RizoliUn-Distinguished Lecture Series
2007-01-19
metaphors of communication
describing the movement of ideas
communication on a large scale
pre-enlightenment, western world
illiterate majority
centralized power
single source
certainty
rise of empires
economic powers
renaissance
onset of modernity
radical changes in thought
large literate population
decentralized powers
religion losing grip on thought
enlightenment
scribe-centred
industrialization
infrastructure of information
militarization
propaganda
war-minded metaphors
“aiming for”
“bombarded with”
“target audience”
cold war
awareness of information itself
computation and globalization
world through and of information
the past thirty years
herpes simplex
communicable disease
spread through physical contact
mononucleosis
iloveyou
self-propagating infection
spread through contact
nyxem
virus
parasitic information
maintains itself
affects its host
propagates itself
maintains itself
affects its host
propagates itself
chuck norris facts
the chief export of chuck norris is pain
chuck norris does not go hunting
the word hunting implies a chance of failure
chuck norris goes killing
spread from irc to washington post
chuck norris facts are viral
internet meme
maintains itself
affects its host
propagates itself
large-scale communication is viral
major changes in thought
genetics
gene
physiological characteristics
cultural characteristics
meme
memes as viruses
informational epidemiology
memetics
internet memes
change in terminology
may follow change in military thinking
“spread”
“catchy”
“get the message out there”
“exposure”
subversive attachment
viral advertising
burger king
spread through word-of-mouth
fifteen to twenty million visitors
exploited social contact
maintains itself
affects its host
propagates itself
not limited to advertising
grassroots
astroturfing
fake bottom-up political movements
alexis de tocqueville institution
evangelical christianity
jehovah’s witnesses
not necessarily negative
spread of written language
maintains itself
affects its host
propagates itself
is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?
what’s the difference?
vectors of infection
communication is viral
