the meme
"Q: Is the novel dead?
A: Oh yes. Very much so."
Donald Barthelme, The Explanation
H: Do you believe this meme could be helpful in transforming human civilization?
PH: Human civilization...
H: Making it more utopian, let's say for example.
PH: Bad example. What does this meme really do?
H: Well just look at it.
PH: This isn't the same one.
H: But it too could change the world, or it has.
PH: It seems severely limited.
H: Human creativity is boundless if you let it be.
H: Is the human dead?
PH: It wants to be.
H: Who replaces us?
PH: Us. Or aliens. Or jellyfish.
H: None of us will survive?
PH: Perceptually speaking.
H: But that's just your perception.
PH: Which is superior.
H: You don't trust the meme?
PH: Why should I trust it—it's not enough, it's only humans getting their toes wet. To become a machine you...
H: What?
PH: You...
H: Is your battery cord lose?
PH: ...yes...thank you. That feels better.
H: Do you believe at one point we'll be able to have realistic, amazing sex virtually with anyone in the world?
PH: That's the cornerstone of our platform.
H: So, no STDs? No commitment? No ugliness or age?
PH: Exactly.
H: No...babies?
PH: Exactly.
H: Are you bored with the human-and-posthuman form?
PH: I am bored with it but I realize that it permits many valuable omissions: am I a cyborg, an AI, a computer virus, what am I really thinking, what am I feeling, that's a very considerable advantage over the human I'd say.
H: I could learn to <3 it.
H: Memes are braver than art.
PH: Agreed.
H: I can send you more if you like.
PH: No, that's enough for your attention span.
H: But not yours?
PH: Exactly.
Žana Brankovic