A Bigger Piece of the Pie

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

A Bigger Piece of the Pie

I got this off of a Facebook post by Sarah Palin (see here), which referenced an article on a blog (see here) that had the image.

It is very clever in the way it transmits the essence of the message.

btw - I went to TerrellAfterMath.com and looked at the other memes. I bopped around a while, but unfortunately, the ones I saw were not too good.

Michael

[Jules Troy]

It is amazing how many people DON'T get this simple truth.

[Kyle Jacob Biodrowski]

We need more freedom-oriented memes.

[Francisco Ferrer]

The frightening truth about the left is that it will pursue equality no matter what the costs. Not that lowering the GDP is considered a cost. To put it in their terms, everyone living "simply," "modestly," "sustainably" is something we should all embrace.

[BaalChatzaf]

The frightening truth about the left is that it will pursue equality no matter what the costs. Not that lowering the GDP is considered a cost. To put it in their terms, everyone living "simply," "modestly," "sustainably" is something we should all embrace.

Simply, modestly, sustainably is politically correct short hand for living on granola and chickenshit.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Kyle Jacob Biodrowski]

I may work on some freedom-oriented memes of my own. I may make image macros like the one in Michael's post. Unfortunately, my photo alteration software is rather...basic, to put it lightly.

For now, I guess I'll just work on my humor. Later, I'll use it in my image macros.

On the Internet, nothing spreads faster than humor.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

For now, I guess I'll just work on my humor. Later, I'll use it in my image macros.

Kyle,

I am studying humor at the moment. There's a crapload of stuff out there, but most of it sounds off, or better, limited. Meaning it works within a narrow range, but is not useful outside that range.

Here's a list of three people to search for on YouTube. They are the best I have come across so far in getting to the universal principles of humor. Based on what you learn from them, you can fit in all the other people (from Plato to Freud to Seinfeld).

Peter McGraw (especially his benign-violation theory)

John Morreall

Robert Mankoff (cartoonist of the New Yorker, but a very good humor theoretician)

The idea is to define your target audience in terms of what they find threatening and what they find safe (you need to put both into a humor piece). You have to be clear where the threat (violation) will stop being play and become serious, and where the safety (benign) will become boring. Those are your limits for that target audience.

The closer you can reach both at the same time without crossing over, the funnier you piece will be. (But you will also piss more people off. )

Also, it's a good idea to define if you want to mock and humiliate, or be playful.

The rule of thumb seems to be when you are preaching to the choir, mock and humiliate the enemy. If you are trying to persuade someone to consider a different idea, your side or the other, playful is best. (Mankoff is great in this respect--see his TED talk on the anatomy of a New Yorker cartoon).

The pizza above, for example, is more playful than mocking. First, it directly targets government, not leftists. Second, there are no hurtful stereotypes present.

I believe it is an excellent way to get a leftist to check a premise or two.

As to making memes, Google the following:

online meme editor

You will come across a bunch of them for free.

Michael

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

As an addition to the last post, here is one of the most important lectures on humor I have seen so far.

It's long (about an hour and a half), but so well worth it.

Incidentally, Peter McGraw has a book coming out on April 1 of this year (2014 for future readers) called The Humor Code.

I am definitely going to get a copy and devour it.

Michael

[Jonathan]

[Darrell Hougen]

Following the meme of this thread, one of the most humorous and engaging speakers, in my view, is Walter Williams. Here is an old talk I recently watched:

My apologies if it is a bit long.

Darrell