To João
A meme is a concept held in memory, but that can spread from person to
person E.g., the statement "Water molecules have been discovered on Mars"
is a meme if it is disseminated widely (whether it is true or false is not
relevant)).
Instead of long discussions about what each individual on this list thinks
a mem might mean, one can simply use a search engine. There one finds such
authoritative statements as:
an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be
passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially
imitation.
An affordance is a relationship between an actor and the environment that
is relevant to the possible actions the actor can take upon the environment.
It has no relevance to memes except that the knowledge learned through
experience with (or being taught about) an object and its affordances is
itself a meme.
Your definition of affordance is not correct. An affordance is not a hint:
it simply is a relationship that exists in the world, whether or not it is
known by actors. I have suggested that we use the term "signifier" to
indicate the perceivable components of an object or place that help people
or other actors know about the existence and use of an affordance. (The
"signifier" can be the sight, sound, or feel of the object or place
itself or some external indicator, such as a sign that says" lift gently.")
Don
On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 8:25 AM, João Ferreira <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>
> Memes are the reason why you look at a door handle and knows how to operate
> them - and why you fail to do so when they behave differently (imagine
> opening a door where you need to turn the handle up instead of down)."
>
> I can't help but notice that the above description is similar to the
> definition of affordance, usually an affordance is defined as hints of how
> an object can be used, usually communicated, indirectly, by the object
> itself. Is there a difference between what you mean by meme and what is
> meant by affordance?
>
> '
--
Don Norman
Prof. and Director, DesignLab, UC San Diego
-----------------------------------------------------------------
PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|