Week 25 - Internet Meme: Philosoraptor

Before I get straight into the point of this post, I'd like to share some background history with you so you aren't confused or wondering what the point is of me sharing this with you. I know you (my mom) are not as internet savvy, and you don't keep up on things that my generation are interested in.

"Memes" is a term coined by the scientist & front running Atheist peaker Richard Dawkins himself back in 1979 to explain "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."

"A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate and respond to selective pressures.

The word meme is a shortening (modeled on gene) of mimeme (from Ancient Greek μίμημα Greek pronunciation: mīmēma, "something imitated", from μιμεῖσθαι mimeisthai, "to imitate", from μῖμος mimos "mime") and it was coined by the British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976) as a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Examples of memes given in the book included melodies, catch-phrases, fashion and the technology of building arches.^{" - Wikipedia}

The context we're using the term "meme" in for this post is how the internet culture has branded the word, as in a meme is "a concept that spreads via the Internet." The specific meme I'm introducing today, and the point of this post, is an old one named Philosoraptor. It is a character who, as the name suggests, is both a philosopher and a raptor. This meme's purpose, as the name may suggest, is a "deep thinking philosopher-raptor, who challenges the reader with his deep, existential, Paleolithic questions." While the meme itself is meant as a light hearted way to make people laugh, it also has quite a lot of serious, real life questions in which to sincerely question the reader with deep, existential, Paleolithic questions. Just because some things are made in fun does not mean it does not also come with educational purposes at times. Philosoraptor touches on many subjects, from every-day life, politics, grammar, to even religion. I'm going to post today some good Philosoraptor pictures for you today of genuine questions you yourself should be asking about the stories you've read in the Bible, some of which are inconsistencies I've noticed myself even as a child.

There are obviously hundreds more of these. I'd waste my life away if I searched for every single one that hits on a topic about religion. There are also other meme's designated to make us ask questions or point out obvious flaws about religion as well, and I plan on posting these sometime soon. Hope you enjoyed.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/philosoraptor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme