Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle
once said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a
thought without accepting it.” Philosophical phrases such as these often inspire
people to think about life’s deeper meanings. Today, people can take pleasure
in questioning things in a more light-hearted manner. One of the most common
ways of doing so today is through the use of Internet memes. The slang word
meme comes from the actual word meme, which, according to Merriam-Webster.com,
is “an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from
person to person within a culture.” Internet memes are images, photos,
videos, and other forms of media with text or captions added to them. They
generally use the same base picture but with variations in the text and
captions. People commonly use memes as simple sources for quick comic relief,
as it only takes a few minutes at most to create a new version of the same
meme. With the strong want for instant data nowadays, memes are a great way to
spread bite-sized bits of humor instantaneously. However, certain memes can
also bring up interesting points about society and other “serious” matters,
giving them a use other than simply comic relief. Some casually question the world
in a sarcastic way while others remain quite thought-provoking.
A common meme that often makes
someone stop and think is Philosoraptor. The meme generally contains an image
of a velociraptor with one of its claws touching its chin in a thought
provoking pose. The caption around the picture usually is an intriguing “What
If?” hypothesis that questions why something with a general understanding is
the way it is rather than being another way. Take this Philosoraptor for
instance:
There is probably a scientific
reasons as to why photos from cameras pictures come out rectangular despite the
round lenses. However, an initial read of this caption would probably confuse
someone unfamiliar with the detailed knowledge of how cameras work. As such, the meme has fulfilled its purpose by making someone really think about something that may or may not be trivial yet still addresses something not common knowledge.
Another common meme, especially
about college students, is Sudden Clarity Clarence. The meme depicts a crazy
college party setting, with one student standing out in the picture. The one
student standing out at the center of the photo appears to be having some sort
of fanatical revelation. As such, most variations of this meme have captions
parodying common “revelations” college students would have when they are drunk,
like this example:
While the likelihood of Simba
actually wanting his dad dead just to be king is highly unlikely considering
the G rating of the film, such a bizarre thought could be something a heavily
intoxicated person could think of since their mind is not in the right place. However, to someone who is also intoxicated, perhaps
the idea does not seem quite as crazy, hence the reason the Sudden Clarity
Clarence image is used for this caption instead of the image for similar memes.
Creating and sharing memes like
Sudden Clarity Clarence and Philosoraptor has become a common trend for people
wanting quick ways to make their minds think hard and for those who want to
mess with their peer’s heads. Through social media like Facebook and Twitter as
well as “meme specific” websites like 9gag, hundreds of thousands of memes
spread across various parts of the Internet on a daily basis. They allow people
to address thought-provoking, somewhat serious concepts in a more humorous way
to attract younger audiences to more serious ideas. However, thought-provoking
memes like Sudden Clarity Clarence and Philosoraptor often can sometimes
contain explicit, suggestive, and sometimes racist ideals, which can often make
them appear vulgar and immature to older crowds rather than entertaining ways
of insightful questioning.
