Until yesterday, I’d never heard of spaghetti tacos. Now I can’t stop thinking about them.
Apparently the concept was introduced as a joke on the Disney tweener show “iCarly.” It caught on. And why not? Frankly it sounds wonderful. Partner has caught me eating cold spaghetti sandwiches in the kitchen more than once, so obviously I’m a presold audience. But really, why not? Tacos usually have something starchy like beans in them. Also tomatoes. Also cheese. Also meat.
Sorry, I got carried away.
Anyway: it’s no longer a joke. Kids liked the idea and began asking for them. There are now recipes and everything (although I have a hard time imagining that you’d really need a recipe).
A recent article in the Times discusses this phenomenon as an example of a viral meme. (A “meme,” in case you’re not familiar with the concept, is an idea or concept that gets passed from mind to mind. A catchy song, an interesting concept, a fad – all of these can be considered memes.) Memes are themselves ideas, but they manifest as behavior. Not many creatures can “catch” them; human beings do, along with other primates, dolphins, and birds. But we humans are clever little monkeys and we just love imitating things. So we catch ideas in much the same way (and just as frequently) as we catch colds.
I tend to visualize science concepts in cartoonish terms. For me, a flu virus is an ugly purple blob with a frowny face, that wants to get into my body and muss up my various organs. In the same way, I visualize the average meme (for example, Train’s overplayed megahit “Hey, Soul Sister”) as a fluffy little bunny that hops into my brain and wiggles its nose at all of my angry little synapses; if the bunny is cute enough, my synapses will get all gooey and sentimental and melt away, and the bunny will get in and start laying colorful little Easter eggs up and down my cerebrum. And then I will be singing “Hey, Soul Sister” for the rest of the day.
Here’s my contribution to the science of memetics: a meme, to be successful, should be polyvalent. By this I mean that it should be appealing in more than one way, so that it can get into your brain through more than one gateway.
So what’s so polyvalent / successful about the “spaghetti taco” meme?
Imagine the “spaghetti taco” bunny hopping into a kid’s brain. I see the kid going through something like this process (though very little of it happens consciously):
1. I like spaghetti.
2. I like tacos.
3. I like the idea of icky foods (like Gummi Worms) my parents might disapprove of.
4. I don’t really like icky foods themselves, as I’m still a pretty picky eater.
And not least:
5. I like imitating stuff I see on TV.
And hop! goes the bunny. And now little Rudolphus wants spaghetti tacos for dinner.
The same Times article mentions Festivus, the “Seinfeld” alternative to Christmas, as another TV-generated meme. Here’s my take on the polyvalency of Festivus:
1. I like holidays.
2. I hate Christmas.
3. I like the idea of doing something that mildly outrages my parents / family.
4. I don’t really want to do anything really outrageous.
5. I like the idea that I can make this stuff up as I go along.
And again:
6. I like imitating stuff I see on TV.
Boing! Break out the aluminum pole and the airing of grievances.
Some memes aren’t successful, for whatever reason. Some, like the Ebolavirus, burn themselves out in a flash. (I think the Hula Hoop may have done this, actually. My sister Susan loved it for about fifteen minutes, back in the day.) Some memes just get in there and itch. (“Seinfeld” was full of these annoying ideas. George memorably said this of himself: “You know the way I work, I'm like a commercial jingle. First it's a little irritating, then you hear it a few times, you hum it in the shower, by the third date it's ‘By Mennen!’” Frankly, however, I have never been tempted to eat a candy bar with a knife and fork.)
If “memes” aren’t new enough for you, brace yourself for the “teme.” This is a newer-than-new concept which I frankly barely understand, but I think it goes something like this:
· Genes replicate.
· The most successful genes replicate most successfully (yes, I know, tautology).
· The most successful genes end up structuring themselves in a way that maximizes their success (yes, I know, anthropomorphism).
· Genes end up “creating” unicellular and multicellular organisms.
· Some of those multicellular organisms (go look in the mirror for a clue to this one) can hold ideas, and pass ideas along.
· The ideas (called “memes”) start replicating, using human beings as their host.
· We’re not very efficient hosts. We’re okay, but we’re not perfect.
· The memes somehow blindly prompt us to create better transmission and storage systems, so that they can reproduce more freely.
· Like TV. And computers. And . . .
· I get lost at this point. Go read Susan Blackmore’s article.
I shouldn’t even comment on a theory I don’t understand. But did you notice that, when I listed the polyvalencies for spaghetti tacos and for Festivus, both lists ended with “I like imitating things I see on TV”? I tried telling people in the office today about spaghetti tacos, and it was a real non-starter. But apparently when TV tells you something, it sounds really good.
So is TV actually a higher-grade meme-delivery system?
And, if so, is TV already coming up with ideas of its own?
I love this theory.
I love it so much that I want to spread it around and get it into your head, so that you can think about it and talk about it and spread it around into all your friends’ heads too.
Spaghetti tacos, anyone?
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