The Influence of Memes on Our Lives

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In the course of human history, many statements have appeared that scientists have never proved, but they remain convincing. On the other hand, some allegations have an evidence base, but people do not believe them since the source is not sufficiently reliable. Nevertheless, these statements exist in modern society, and they are transmitted from one person to another, from generation to generation.

Nowadays, the development of the Internet and technology mainly contributes to the spread. Scientists established a definition for the presented phenomenon at the end of the twentieth century, and they claimed such information a meme. As Blackmore marks in her article, “memes are units of cultural transmission” (170). Most likely, every person in their life comes across memes more than once, and people accept some of them and do not believe in others.

I also happened to encounter memes in life, but the most memorable incident happened to me in my childhood. After the third grade, I went to my grandparents on vacation in the village, and I planned to have fun with my friends and spend time in the fresh air in the countryside. Unfortunately, my plans were destroyed because none of my friends came to the village that year, so I was left entirely alone. At first, I continued to walk alone because I did not like spending time locked up in the house. However, later I could not do this either, as the weather turned bad and it rained for a month. It was at this time that I realized that I enjoyed computer games, so I spent hours at the computer.

My grandmother always scolded me for spending time behind the screen and for the fact that I continuously sat and did not move. That was the first time when she said that all the diseases came from the computer. A few days later, my head started to hurt, and I caught a cold, so my grandmother repeated her meme one more time. For a while, I believed that I got sick due to the computer, and I was afraid of even getting closer to the machine.

Surprisingly, a little later, my grandmother and several people from the village got sick as well, so it turned out that it was an ordinary flu. Since then, I have become aware of this type of information and, if possible, I seek confirmation of controversial assumptions. It is interesting to note that the situation only convinced my grandmother that she was right because she believed that if I had not spent so much time on the computer; my immunity would have been able to cope with the virus.

Not only my grandmother and it knew the presented meme turns out that many older adults disseminate this information, even if they do not have evidence. I believe that older people are spreading this meme because they are overprotective about their children and grandchildren and consider computers dangerous because they do not understand them. However, not only older people find this statement convincing, as there is plenty of evidence about the prevalence of this information on the Internet.

For example, information about the physical and psychological adverse effects of computers is available on the official websites of schools. The site provides students with information about the harm to eyesight and other physiological systems, as well as information about emitted radiation. One of these schools is the Dante Academy in Canada, Toronto. The website says that people who have used the computers for an extensive period may complain about headaches, and pains in their wrists, arms and necks (“Negative Effects of Computer and Computer Use,” 2019). However, the site does not only convey the meme to its readers; it offers advice as well.

Apparently, the school administration understands the impossibility of abandoning a computer in the modern world and takes responsibility for informing schoolchildren about the possible consequences. Since this meme is associated with tips, people can call it educational information. Moreover, even though the site does not offer evidential base, it contains practical advice, so the meme becomes more convincing.

Many parenting sites also include allegations of the dangers of computers for children. In the modern world, children use technology and electronic media from a very young age; of course, most parents are interested in the possible impact on their children. Although the development of the Internet has led to globalization and the development of communications, network technologies can also cause addiction and other troubles. For example, lack of physical activity while using a computer can be dangerous for the healthy development of the child. Moreover, increased time at the computer can cause cognitive problems, such as defocusing and memory impairment.

The social interaction is affected as well, as Wright claims in his article, that “children who spend more time on the computer than with others their age may fail to develop appropriate social skills” (5). If parents found information about the meme that they heard on such a site, the data may encourage them to further research or even take measures to limit the technique.

Although many memes are unproven transmission of information, the meme described above partly contains the truth. The computer is not the cause of all diseases, but it can cause specific physical and psychological problems in a person who uses the technology excessively. Anxiety is a common mental issue, which is arising from the overuse of the computer. Anxiety is an individual psychological feature, manifested in a person’s tendency to experience intense fear frequently, as well as have a low threshold for its occurrence. Scientists conducted several studies to confirm the reality of the appearance of stress from the computer.

The study took place among schoolchildren and students, including students studying informatics. It turned out that those students who spend less time at the network have a higher level of self-efficacy and a lower level of anxiety (Cazan et al. 264). Unfortunately, those students who had a computer education showed the lowest self-efficacy results and the highest level of anxiety among the group, which proves the mediated effect of computer anxiety.

Continuous work at the computer negatively affects many functions of our body, such as nervous activity, endocrine, immune and reproductive systems; it affects one’s vision and musculoskeletal system as well. Aside from physical and mental problems, computers can affect cognitive functions of the brain, such as memory and concentration. One of the consequences of such violations can be a decrease in the average score for students.

Several studies have been conducted among people who are passionate about computer games and among ordinary schoolchildren. Garcia et al. received data from research which stated that “only twelve of the ninety-nine players had a high GPA in Grade ten did not compare positively with the fact that twenty-one of the fifty-five non-players had a high GPA” (3). Nevertheless, computer games can be useful, since they participate in the adaptation of children in real life, and increase their imagination and reaction speed. Computer games are a very complex phenomenon, and it is impossible to say unequivocally that they severely affect the performance of schoolchildren.

However, people can use this study as the evidence base for the meme, because the computer partly harms one’s health and mind. The given meme is quite common among all segments of the population, and the elderly, parents, and even teenagers use it. Most likely, the represented statement has become so widespread due to the presence of evidence base, since words that are not supported by any research cause much less confidence.

Since there is strong evidence for the proposed statement, many people use it as a meme, even if they do not offer to read the evidence. The older generation often spreads this meme in the form of gossip, because they do not fully understand the dramatically accelerated integration of technology into everyday life. This misunderstanding causes fear and a desire to protect people they love, and often grandparents explain many negative things that happen to children with this meme.

Seniors are precisely the segment of society in which this meme has received the most extensive distribution; many other categories of citizens also hear it from them. Despite some flimsy gossip about this meme, it is partially correct. Firstly, due to work behind a computer monitor, a person’s vision suffers. Often during prolonged use of the computer, the eye muscles strain, and the person blinks much less frequently. Therefore, the cornea does not moisturize properly, and painful sensations appear in the eyes. It becomes painful to blink, move the eyes, and there is a burning sensation, or the clarity of vision worsens. Almost all people who spend several hours at a computer without a break are familiar with this phenomenon.

Secondly, sitting for a long time leads to a cramped posture. A person should look at a screen from a certain distance and, at the same time, keep their hands on the keyboard. The given situation forces their body to take a specific position and not change it until the end of the work. Due to the constrained posture, tension occurs in the neck, and muscles of the head, arms and shoulders, and it causes problems with the spine. Thirdly, spending time at the computer can cause mental pressure and psychological stress. Work behind the equipment requires no less focus than driving a car. Exciting games require tremendous stress, which practically does not happen in ordinary conditions. This area is very little studied since modern multimedia technology has appeared only recently.

In conclusion, it can be noted that the influence of memes on our lives is quite strong. These statements push scientists to conduct new studies and research to confirm or refute the investigated assumption. Moreover, memes can significantly affect human behaviour, especially if they have evidence. Children are influenced by such statements from the very beginning of their life and pass them from generation to generation, sometimes not even being interested in the authenticity of the meme. Nevertheless, a meme is a multicultural feature that has a strong influence on the development of society.

Works Cited

Blackmore, Susan. “Imitation and the Definition of a Meme.” A Memetics Compendium, 2008, pp. 170-182

Cazan, Ana-Maria, Cocoradă, Elena, & Maican, Ioan Maican. “Computer Anxiety and Attitudes Towards the Computer and the Internet with Romanian High-School and University Students.” Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 55, 2016, pp. 258–267.

Garcia, Kurt, Jarabe, Nelson, & Paragas, Jessie. “Negative Effects of Online Games on Academic Performance.” Southeast Asian Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 3, no. 1, 2018, pp. 2672-2984.

“Negative Effects of Computer and Computer Use.” Dante Academy, 2019. Web.

Wright, James. “Negative Effects of Computers on Children.” It Still Works, 2019. Web.

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The Influence of Memes on Our Lives

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